Seven Deadly Jewels
by Gammer
Summary: A gift from her mother was all it took to change Sakura Kinomoto from ordinary family waitress to magician-in-training. With the help from a distant swordsman, her best friend, and an irate guardian beast, Sakura must track down six more jewels that may be the destruction of the world. All the while learning that things are not always as they seem
1. It Begins

Seven Deadly Jewels  
  
Chapter 1  
  
AN: I don't own these characters; they belong to the good people of Clamp. So if you sue me, you'll get nothing since I'm broke man I'm broke!  
  
On a hot summer day in a faraway land, a young man walked through the woods. A hood, and a cloak covered his more detailed features. Sweat came down his brow as he continued to walk through the woods. His eyes fell upon a small town not too faraway from the woods.  
  
'Maybe it's there where I'll find what I need,' he thought.  
  
*******  
  
Within the small town, there was a young girl running around her bedroom.  
  
"Aw man! Why didn't I wake up earlier?" she said to herself as she quickly put on her waitress outfit, and a necklace that her mom gave her before she died. With that done, she ran downstairs.  
  
"It's about time," her older brother Touya said.  
  
"Yes you really need to wake up earlier, Sakura," her dad agreed. Sakura and her family ran a restaurant/hotel in town. They weren't the most popular, but some people stopped by.  
  
"Give me a break Touya! I was up most of the night helping our guests!" Sakura said.  
  
"I'm surprised they weren't scared of a monster like you," her brother replied. Sakura kicked him in his shin, and said,  
  
"One of these days you're gonna push me too far Touya!" The door knocked.  
  
"Hey monster get the door!" he said as he rubbed his shin. Sakura kicked his other shin before answering the door.  
  
"Oh, hey Madison," Sakura greeted. Madison was Sakura's best friend, and was waitress with Sakura at their place.  
  
"Hey there Sakura, late again this morning?" Madison asked seeing her un- bushed hair. Sakura felt her hair and felt that it was un-bushed.  
  
"It's going to be a long day," Sakura groaned.  
  
*******  
  
As the young man got closer to the small town, a strange feeling started to come over him. There was something there, something powerful, and deadly at the same time. When he finally made it, he started to seek out the strange feeling he was getting. He looked around, but it seemed that the feeling was slowly fading away.  
  
'Damn, it's hot,' he thought as he continued to walk blindly around town. He wanted to rest at a hotel, but first things first; he had to find out what was giving that feeling. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and stopped at small hotel. The feeling was strongest here. The young man opened the door and walked in.  
  
********  
  
The door suddenly swung open, and a young man with a hood and a cloak walked in. Everyone froze for a second; there was no telling what this guy was capable of. Sakura breathed out, and approached him.  
  
"Um.... hi, welcome. Can I get you anything?"  
  
"Shiro juice please," he said simply, and took a seat in the corner.  
  
"Uh...can I get you anything else?"  
  
"No thank you."  
  
"Weird guy," Madison whispered to Sakura as she made her way to the kitchen. "I mean what kind of person wears a cloak in the middle of this heat?"  
  
"What does it matter, he's a customer after all," Sakura replied, and brought out the juice.  
  
"Thank you," the young man said as Sakura placed the juice on the table. The stranger gave Sakura a quick glance, and got the strange feeling he had been getting since he got here, but he felt two things where was the other one?  
  
"Um.... Excuse me, but will you be staying the night?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Maybe," he said simply, and drank the cool liquid.  
  
"Um... okay... Just call if you need anything else, okay?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
'Boy Madison was right he is kinda weird in a mysterious way,' Sakura thought as she greeted the other visitors that were now coming in.  
  
*********  
  
As the day rolled on, more people came in for some rest, and to stay, but the stranger stayed, and only talked when he asked for some more juice. His face had yet to be seen, but Sakura could of sworn when he took the glass from her, she saw he had chestnut hair. When it reached noon, Sakura and Madison took their breaks.  
  
"Taking our breaks dad!" Sakura called as she and her friend walked out the door.  
  
"Alright, be back soon!" her dad called as he took another order. Sakura and Madison went out the door, and went to Town Square where all the shops and trading posts were.  
  
"So what do you want to do today?" Madison asked. Sakura thought for a while, then finally said,  
  
"Let's go shopping!"  
  
"My thoughts exactly!" Madison replied, and soon the two girls went all around Town Square buying as many clothes and accessories they could afford. Soon when their break was almost over, they had about ten bags each, and were on their way back.  
  
"We should hurry, there's no telling how long dad can hold out on his own," Sakura said.  
  
"Is it that? Or are you scarred of those stories that have been going around lately?" Madison asked. Recently, there has been a string of killings. About seven people were killed, and no one knew what it was. Most people said that it was the ghost wanting revenge.  
  
"Oh come on Madison, dad says those stories are just ways people feel better about what's going on."  
  
"I don't know. Ghosts are known to be brutal," Madison joked.  
  
"Don't start," Sakura said as they turned the corner. Unknown to them a figure watched them from the shadows, and an aura of pure darkness surrounded him.  
  
"New victims," it said softly, and licked its lips.  
  
*********  
  
The young man drank his tenth cup of juice and looked around, there was that feeling again. But it wasn't the feeling he was getting from that girl; this one was darker, more destructive, and more deadly. He stood up, and without a word walked out the door.  
  
'So you finally decide to show yourself,' he thought.  
  
*********  
  
"Uh...Sakura, are you sure we're going to the right way?" Madison asked.  
  
"Pretty sure, why?"  
  
"Because this alley is darker than I remember," she said worriedly.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm positive this is the right way," Sakura replied. As they walked, Sakura started to get a weird feeling. She had been feeling the same thing, the same dark presence since they had got here, but she didn't want to worry Madison. She hoped they were going to be out soon, but the alley seemed more like an endless maze, full of twists and turns. When they made one last turn, that feeling was at it's strongest. An extremely cold chill came down her spine, and the dark feeling just seemed to be all she could feel.  
  
"Sakura, are you okay?" Madison asked her friend.  
  
"Maybe we should get out of here," Sakura replied.  
  
"I think, you should stay for some fun," a voice suddenly said. The girls looked around them, but it was so dark they could barely see anything.  
  
"What was that?" Sakura asked.  
  
"You're right, we should get out of here," Madison agreed.  
  
"Where is out?" The voice started to chuckle.  
  
"Exactly. You see, ever since you, two entered this alley, you have been wandering in an alley of darkness. Only mages, wizards, and I know the way out!" Sakura saw Madison tremble. Pure fear was in her eyes. She wanted to help, but she was afraid to, and it was like they were both frozen in fear. Not only that, but Sakura could hear the voice getting closer, and closer.  
  
'Mom if you can hear me, please help us,' she prayed.  
  
*******  
  
The stranger looked up, and saw a dome of darkness in an alley. He sensed the two energies he felt from when he first reached town in the same place right now.  
  
'Those girls better be careful, or else they'll be the next victims,' he thought.  
  
*******  
  
"It's meal time!" the voice suddenly shouted, and a man rushed out them.  
  
"GET AWAY!!!!!!" Sakura shouted with all her might, and outstretched her hand. A powerful wind suddenly formed, and blew the man to ground. Sakura and Madison opened their eyes, and found that they were all right, and a man with red eyes, long nails, long black hair, and ripped yellow pants on the ground.  
  
"We're all right?" Madison asked.  
  
"I guess we are," Sakura figured. The man growled.  
  
"You're more powerful than I thought. You must have magical abilities if you can summon a wind that powerful in seconds. Once I kill you, I'll take your magic energy, and become mighty!"  
  
"That's gross!" Sakura and Madison said at the same time.  
  
"You don't have a say in the matter! Now get ready to die!" the man jumped at them again, but suddenly he was knocked back again, by a kick. The girls looked, and saw the stranger from the restaurant.  
  
"You two all right," he asked as he looked at them. Sakura nodded, and the young man's eyes fell on her necklace.  
  
'There it is. Who would of thought it would belong to this girl,' he thought. The man jumped up and growled at him.  
  
"How dare you spoil my chance to become powerful!"  
  
"You should be more worried about your life than how powerful you are," he replied. "Demon." Sakura and Madison gasped.  
  
"A demon? But I thought they were just stories," Madison said.  
  
"So you figured it out. Well at least now I can drop this stupid human mask," the demon replied and started to transform. His skin turned a dark blue, and his black hair became blood red, his nails slowly became claws, and his muscles grew five times, than what they were before. Under his hood, the young man smirked.  
  
"It's about time," he said.  
  
"I'll finish you quickly! You stupid human!" the demon charged, and slashed with his claws, but the young man quickly jumped, and flipped over him.  
  
"You must be one of those weak class E demons," he said.  
  
"How dare you!" the demon yelled, and attacked with a stab. The stranger flipped over him again, and in mid air he reached into his cloak and pulled out a sword.  
  
"Ready?" he asked. The demon growled, and attacked wildly with his claws. The stranger blocked all his attacks with hardly any effort. The demon attacked his head, but he ducked under his arm, and slashed his stomach. Green blood started ooze out of the wound.  
  
"D-d-damn you," he growled. As the stranger walked up to him, the demon jumped, and grabbed Sakura's necklace.  
  
"Hey! What are you doing!" she cried. The demon laughed, and swallowed it.  
  
"Shit!" the stranger growled. The demon laughed as his skin became black, and his eyes yellow. His claws became longer, and stronger, and his power grew greatly.  
  
"Now I can beat you! You stupid slayer!" the demon yelled and charged.  
  
'What did he say? A slayer?' Sakura thought.  
  
'Damn! He's gotten faster!' the stranger thought. The demon stabbed him in his stomach, and started to laugh.  
  
"HA! With that necklace inside of me I knew you'd be no match for me!" But when he looked again, he saw he only stabbed his cloak. The demon looked behind him, and saw a young man with chestnut hair, green robes, and a sword in his hands.  
  
"Bad move youkai," the stranger said with a smirk, and stabbed him where his heart was. The demon just laughed.  
  
"You fool! My heart isn't there like you weak humans!" with that, the demon slashed the young man to the ground.  
  
'Looks like I'll have to turn it up a little bit,' he thought with a smirk.  
  
"Time to finish this!" the youkai shouted, and charged. The stranger raised up his index finger, his middle finger, and his thumb.  
  
"Force know my plight," he said slowly.  
  
'What's he doing?' Sakura thought.  
  
"Die!" the demon shouted, and thrust out his claws.  
  
"Release the light! Lighting!" suddenly, lighting stuck the attacker, and while he stunned, the stranger gripped his sword, and hacked him in two. Sakura and Madison shut their eyes at how brutal he was. As the two pieces fell, they slowly burned up, and the green blood pool was gone. The dark area slowly turned back into the normal alley the girls knew.  
  
"If you ask me he's kinda cute," Madison whispered to her friend. "Don't you think." Sakura rolled her eyes, and approached him.  
  
"Thanks for saving us," she said, but he didn't even bother to turn around. He just picked up the necklace, and sheathed his sword.  
  
'One down, six to go,' he thought.  
  
"Uh.... excuse me, but that's mine." The stranger just looked at her, but said nothing. Then after a while he just threw it back at her, and was about to walk off, when  
  
"Hey, you could at least tell us your name!" Madison called.  
  
"Yeah, and why that thing ate my necklace," Sakura added. The stranger stopped, and looked at them.  
  
"My name is Li, and that necklace is one of the seven jewels that can destroy world."  
  
AN: Talk about intense! Who would of thought jewels can be so deadly! But why would a demon want a jewel like that? And what's Li doing trying to take Sakura's necklace? And just how powerful is Sakura's magic if she can blow away a demon? The answers to these questions and more in the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. I hope you liked my first ever CCS fic. In fact this also my first non-crossover fic. Don't worry it'll get better. So with that said, See ya! 


	2. Night of the NinjaYoukai

Seven Deadly Jewels  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"My name is Li, and that necklace is one of seven jewels that can destroy the world."  
  
"What? But how, how can seven jewels destroy the world?" Sakura asked.  
  
"It's none of your concern," Li said simply, and was about to walk off.  
  
"What do you mean it's none of my concern! We were just attacked by a demon, and he ate my mom's necklace! And now you're saying it can destroy the world? Don't you think I have to the right to know what's going on!"  
  
"No. Now leave me alone, I have business to take care of." And with that, he walked off.  
  
"Jerk," Sakura mumbled.  
  
"Come on Sakura, we'd better get back before your dad gets worried," Tomoyo advised. Sakura nodded, and they made their way back to the inn.  
  
'What's with that guy?' Sakura thought as she and Tomoyo walked back to the inn.  
  
'What's with that girl?' Li thought as he walked through the streets. 'I sensed something from her back in the inn, but it was small, and weak like most other people, but when I sensed the demon show himself, her power just skyrocketed. Is there more to this girl than I first thought?'  
  
********  
  
"Hi dad!" Sakura greeted.  
  
"Hello Sakura, Tomoyo. How was your break?" her dad asked.  
  
"It was...eventful," Tomoyo replied.  
  
"Did you manage to get a hold of that guy from earlier? He didn't pay for the ten glasses of juice he had," Touya asked them.  
  
"Well we did catch with him, but when we did he walked off," Sakura obviously leaving the demon part out since it would just make her dad, and Touya more cautious.  
  
"Well next time you see him, tell him he owes us 20 gold," Touya said. "Now get ready for the afternoon shift." The girls nodded, and started to take orders.  
  
'That guy, what did he mean? Did he mean that my necklace could destroy the world? Is there really more to this than I first thought? But why would my mother give me something like this?' Sakura thought as she and Tomoyo walked to the kitchen.  
  
"Did you believe what that guy said? About the seven jewels and stuff?" Tomoyo asked her best friend when they reached the kitchen.  
  
"I'm not so sure. Maybe it's a joke. But did you see the look in his eyes he looked so serious about it," Sakura replied.  
  
"Yeah I mean who would joke about the world being destroyed?"  
  
"But how can a simple necklace destroy the world? It just doesn't make sense."  
  
"Well whatever it is I'm sure you'll figure it out Sakura, I have faith in you."  
  
"Thanks Tomoyo."  
  
"No problem, now we'd get back to work before your brother has a fit." Sakura nodded, and took one last glance at her necklace.  
  
'How is it possible?' she thought.  
  
*******  
  
Meanwhile in the alley where the demon attacked, four ominous figures surveyed the damage hidden deeply in the darkness of the shadows.  
  
"Damn, looks like Hiuka got himself slain by a human," the first figure said with a smirk. "He always was a weak bastard."  
  
"The weakling always did rely solely on his stupid smoke and mirrors shit," a figure with spiky hair chuckled.  
  
"He always was a disgrace, damn, just inhaling his fumes is a disgrace," a thin figure growled.  
  
"Well at least he got the job done, he found the kamikaze necklace. Even though he wanted it solely for himself," the leader figured.  
  
"So boss what now?" the thin figure asked. The boss smirked, and replied,  
  
"Well isn't it obvious? Dispatch the ninja-youkai."  
  
"But what if the slayer who killed Hiuka is where the jewel is?" the spike haired one asked.  
  
"As it ever occurred to you that I don't give a damn about what ifs. Now do it!" the leader ordered.  
  
"Sir!" all three figures said at once.  
  
'Soon all hell will broken lose on this land. And there will be no one who can stop us.'  
  
*********  
  
Li walked towards the inn he was in before with his thoughts not only on the jewel he found, but on the girl as well.  
  
'How? How did she manage it? Before she just a normal girl, but a while ago her magical energy just sky rocked in a second, and went down in a second. How did she manage that?' He wondered as he slowly made his way back.  
  
'Well she did have the kamikaze necklace on her, but if it was that simple I wouldn't be this concerned. That energy I felt, it felt so natural, like she's been doing this for years? But how?'  
  
*********  
  
"Two orders of Riham steak for table four!" Sakura called to the kitchen.  
  
"And five glasses of Juri juice for table twelve!" Tomoyo called.  
  
"God do I hate the afternoon rush!" Touya grumbled as he ran through the kitchen. His dad simply smiled at him.  
  
"Oh welcome!" Sakura greeted as the door opened. She gasped softly when she saw Li in the doorway. Everything seemed to stop as he looked at her with his piercing eyes, and his ice-cold gaze. She nearly dropped her tray as he entered and walked past her. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine as he walked past. Tomoyo snapped Sakura out of her daze by asking,  
  
"Are you okay?" To Sakura everything started to move again and it seemed that he was never there in the first place.  
  
"I'm fine," she replied with a smile.  
  
"That Li guy is sitting right in the corner again, what does he want?" Tomoyo asked the shocked girl. Sakura just shrugged, and went back to work.  
  
******  
  
As it turned out, Li didn't leave. When night fell, he just paid Touya to spend the night. Touya pointed the mysterious young man to his room, and he left without a word. Soon, Tomoyo, and Sakura went to bed as well, but unknown to them, the dark shadows from outside started to creep in.  
  
Sakura sat on her bed fiddling with her necklace, and wondering.  
  
'I don't understand. How can this little necklace help to destroy the world? It just doesn't make sense.' Sakura sighed, and lay down. 'I'll just worry about it tomorrow.' She slowly closed her eyes, but what she didn't know was a shadow crept under her door.  
  
*******  
  
Li sat in a corner with his sword close, and his arms folded. He never slept in a bed when he was traveling; to him it made you vulnerable. As he slept a shadow crept under his door, and stopped in front of him. Suddenly, something started rise out of the shadow. It had dark clothing, a black mask, and what appeared to be blue skin. His belt held a sword, poison darts, throwing stars, and kunai. His red eyes settled on Li's latent figure. The shadow ninja smirked under his mask and drew his katana. As it came closer, Li showed no signs of knowing the ninja was near him. The shadow warrior brought down his sword. Li suddenly vanished! The warrior looked around the room frantically.  
  
"Looking for me!" Li shouted from behind him. As the ninja turned around Li attacked with a powerful roundhouse kick, and knocked him to the ground. Li surveyed the damage he did to the ninja. He seemed only knocked out.  
  
'Hm. By the looks of him, he looks like a ninja-youkai. And if there's one here then, oh no!' he thought, and hastily ran out his door.  
  
*******  
  
Sakura rolled on her bed as she slept. Unknown to her, something started to rise out of the shadow in her room. It was similar to the ninja from Li's room, but this one was taller, and swifter. The ninja-youkai raised his hands and extended his long sharp claws. Sakura rolled to the other side facing the ninja. The dark warrior smirked and readied a strike when the door swung open. When the ninja turned around a kick met his face and he spun the to ground.  
  
"Uh... what's going on?" Sakura groaned as she got up.  
  
"Get up, we got company here," Li said to her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked as she looked around.  
  
"Saving you. I have a feeling this place is swarming with ninja-youkai."  
  
"Ninja-Youkai what's that?" Suddenly there was loud crash, and loud groan.  
  
"No time, I have to stop these things, the only reason they're here is for your necklace!" Li told her, and ran out the door.  
  
'My necklace?' Sakura thought as she followed him. She found Li looking down the stairs. Sakura followed his eyes and gasped. The whole bottom floor was swarming with what looked like big black insects, but they were really demons. The ninja-youkai tore the place apart looking for the necklace. Many ran along the walls to the upper floors terrorizing the other guests. The kitchen looked like it was in shambles, and Sakura's dad, and Touya were pinned against a wall by one of them. Sakura gasped when she saw Tomoyo on the ground with another one over her with his sword drawn.  
  
"Li do something! Save them!" Sakura cried. Li only scoffed.  
  
"Do it yourself I'm not one of those going around saving everyone type of hero. I only want the necklace." Sakura growled with tears coming down her face when she saw the two ninjas about to kill her family.  
  
"You want my necklace? Then have it! I don't care about it anymore! Not if keeping it means losing my family!" she yelled, as she threw necklace down at his feet, and ran down the steps. Li rolled his eyes and picked up the necklace.  
  
"She won't last five minutes against those youkai," he thought out loud. Sakura gasped in horror as she saw the ninjas about to strike.  
  
'I won't make it in time!' she realized sadly. 'I'm going to lose my family.' Her eyes began to water as she saw Touya, her dad, and Tomoyo look at the ninjas with pure fear in their eyes, as they were about to bring their weapons.  
  
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed with all her might. Li suddenly felt her energy skyrocket.  
  
'Her energy it's off the charts! But how? I have the necklace, but this energy it's purely hers,' he thought as he watched her. Wind shot out of her body and blew all he ninjas in the inn into one spot. Sakura then raised her arms in the air and summons three powerful tornadoes. Li's eyes widened when the saw such powerful tornadoes being summoned at once. The ninjas were soon engulfed in them, and were blown far away.  
  
"Sakura!" her family called when they saw her fall to her knees.  
  
"Are you okay honey?" her father asked.  
  
"Damn squirt that was one hell of a display you showed back there," Touya said in awe.  
  
"Sakura how did you do that?" Tomoyo asked her.  
  
"I don't know, all knew was I just wanted to save you guys," Sakura replied.  
  
'Her love for her family must have awoken her powers,' Li figured as he watched the scene from the stairs. He just shrugged and looked at the necklace.  
  
'Well what do I care? I have what I want.' With that Li put the necklace in his pocket and walked downstairs.  
  
"I still understand how you managed that honey," her dad said.  
  
"Your daughter has just shown a power that could one day make a great mage, that is if she's properly trained," Li said as he passed them.  
  
"Wait a minute, please wait," Sakura called as she finally got to her feet. "Are you saying I have magic in me?"  
  
"Yes, if you're trained properly then you might become a great mage," Li repeated.  
  
"Then how about you train me," Sakura suggested.  
  
"Say what?" Li asked and turned around.  
  
"Yeah. I don't want my family to be helpless like this anymore; I want to protect them, if I can master this magic in me, and then maybe we won't be so vulnerable anymore."  
  
"Sakura are you nuts?" Touya asked. "You're trusting a total stranger to teach you magic tricks?"  
  
"Are you sure about this Sakura?" her dad asked.  
  
"I'm positive dad," Sakura replied with hesitation.  
  
"Sorry I don't take students," Li said coldly. Sakura growled, she wouldn't take no for an answer. As he was walking away she ran in front of him.  
  
"Even if you say no, I'm still going to find a way to follow you! If you think I'm weak or unworthy then I'll show you! I'm positive about this! And you can't stop me!" Li looked into her emerald eyes and saw pure determination and not one sign of backing down. He just rolled his eyes, and groaned.  
  
"Fine, but remember you brought this on yourself." Sakura smiled.  
  
"I promise I won't let you down."  
  
"Plus I'm traveling, so if you want to come then you might to pack something now, before I leave without you," Li said and walked outside.  
  
"Dad you will let me go with him won't you?" Sakura asked her dad.  
  
"Of course I will honey, if you are sure about it then I'll support you no matter what," he said with a smile.  
  
"I don't trust that kid. Who knows what he'll do," Touya growled. Sakura rolled her eyes.  
  
"Do not worry I'll be careful, I promise," the excited girl reassured her brother, and ran upstairs to pack some things.  
  
"Two more minutes!" Li called from outside. Sakura hugged her brother, and father.  
  
"I'll be careful, and when I come back I'll be a powerful mage, just like in the stories," Sakura smiled at them, and went out the door.  
  
"Well that took four minutes," Li said and started to walk.  
  
"Wait up!" Sakura called.  
  
"Sakura, wait!" Tomoyo called. The two turned around.  
  
"Tomoyo what is it?"  
  
"I want to come."  
  
"Huh? Tomoyo, it might be dangerous."  
  
"That's not stopping you now is it? Besides, I know you and Li will watch out for me during the trip."  
  
"Or not," Li mumbled. Sakura elbowed his rib.  
  
"I just want see what I'm made of. To see what the world is like. So please let go," Tomoyo pleaded. Li groaned.  
  
"At this rate it'll be morning by the time we leave. All right, you can come."  
  
"Thank you!" Tomoyo said excitedly and followed them as they walked out of time.  
  
"I'm sure this'll be the adventure of a lifetime!" Sakura said full of exhilaration.  
  
"Or just a fancy way fate want to annoy me," Li said sarcastically.  
  
"Oh come on, how are we going to get along with that kind of attitude? Tomoyo asked him.  
  
"Yeah lighten up to your travel companions," Sakura said. Li just groaned.  
  
"This is going to be a long trip."  
  
AN: Well Li has just gotten himself two new travel companions. Too bad, he hates the idea. What kind of peril will our heroes face? What kind of secrets and rumors will they uncover? Will Li ever revel his intentions for the deadly jewels? What makes them so deadly anyway? Well all be reveled in future chapters of Seven Deadly Jewels. So, read and enjoy! See ya! 


	3. Tugio: The Demonic Beast

Seven Deadly Jewels  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Will you two hurry up!?" Li scowled at his traveling companions. It had been two days since they left Sakura and Tomoyo's town. The small group found themselves in a dense forest. The trees seemed to move closer together; also it wasn't even daybreak yet so those two elements made the forest darker than it actually was. Li's travel companions, Sakura and Tomoyo were lagging behind him, which annoyed him since he knew if he was alone he would be half way out of this forest. The girl's lagging wasn't the only thing that annoyed Li,  
  
"I'm starving!" Tomoyo groaned. It was their complaining.  
  
"Me too, Li let's stop and have breakfast," Sakura suggested. She had auburn hair, and bright emerald eyes, but she also held powerful magical abilities within her. Li thought it was the jewel, the Kamikaze necklace, but he found out it was her natural ability. He reluctantly agreed to train her, and she started to follow him on his journey.  
  
"No, we aren't stopping until the sun fully rises," Li declined.  
  
"Come on! We haven't eaten since we first reached this forest, and that was yesterday!" Sakura's best friend Tomoyo groaned. Li honestly had no idea why she was tagging along. She had no magical abilities what so ever and she didn't even know how to defend herself. To Li she was just a stupid straggler.  
  
"So? If we stop every time you two get hungry we won't get anywhere learn to fight your hunger," Li replied without looking at them. Sakura and Tomoyo groaned. Li rolled his eyes, and pulled out the Kamikaze Necklace. It was a small red jewel, about the size of a pebble, and had a golden chain attached to it, with Sakura's name engraved on it. Sakura told him that her mother gave it to her, but Li had no idea how she would across it. It wasn't like you could buy something like this from a merchant, or just find it laying just anywhere. This is was a deadly jewel and a powerful one too. Li really had no real idea just how powerful it was, when he fought the demon that first it, it made him stronger, and faster, but he doubted it would be the same for a human. Demons and humans had much different body types, so affects such as the power the jewels had a demon differed for a human. His chain of thought however was interrupted by Sakura.  
  
"Oh man!" she groaned, and sat on the ground. "I can't go on, not without something to eat!" Tomoyo sighed, and sat next to her.  
  
"Yeah can we at least stop and rest?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"Don't you two believe in progress? We'll never get anywhere if we take breaks, breaks are for those who can't handle the stress of traveling, now get up, and keep walking!" Li said harshly. Sakura and Tomoyo sighed, and got up.  
  
Meanwhile in a dark and ominous valley, full of volcanoes, and smoke, there was a large fortress built within a volcano. In the middle of the volcano was a large arch shaped hole, the fortress was surrounded by lava, and ash. The fortress had a series of wooden bridges that led from outside to inside, and to other major parts of the fortress. A large hole within the center of the stronghold that had a series of tunnels that led to a hot and blazing lava pool. Thousands of demons, and monsters ran around the stronghold, following or barking orders. Hundreds of guards surrounded the perimeter, and even more on the inside. The stronghold had four towers built near the rear, the sides, and the front. The ones on the rear, and sides were used for defense, but the one in the rear was used for meetings. Within the rear tower a meeting was being held, the four figures from Sakura's town were plotting their next move.  
  
"Well that whole Ninja-Youkai plan was a dud," the spiked hair figure said to the leader.  
  
"Was it? At least we know just how strong those damn humans are," the thin figure informed him.  
  
"Precisely," the leader said as his white hair fell forward.  
  
"What does it matter how strong they are? They still have the Kamikaze necklace!" a blue hair figure growled.  
  
"Do we at least know where they are? We need to exterminate those damn humans before they become a nuance to us, and our plans!" the spiked hair one proposed.  
  
"Patience," the leader said. "They will die in time, but that is not our first priority with these humans. We must get the kamikaze necklace away from them before they discover its true power."  
  
"Just how do you propose we do that?" the blue hair figure asked.  
  
"Tuigo," the leader said simply.  
  
Sakura groaned, and sat under a tree. She reached into the bag that her dad packed her before she left, and pulled out a cup of instant noodles. Tomoyo saw her, and went to sit next to her. Sakura happily handed her a cup. Li turn around when he felt they weren't behind him anymore, and saw they were about eat a cup of noodles.  
  
"What did I say? I said were not eating until the sun rises," Li scolded.  
  
"But the sun is practically up anyway," Sakura protested. "Besides this a cup of instant noodles."  
  
"Yeah we can eat this while were walking," Tomoyo agreed. You could clearly see a vein close to exploding in Li's head.  
  
"Then get off your lazy asses and start walking!" Li growled. Sakura and Tomoyo sighed, and started to get up. As Sakura was closing her bag, something fell out; it was a small stuffed bear with small wings, and small rounded ears.  
  
"Sakura what's that?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"Oh, this is Kero; I've had him since I was 5. He's my good luck charm in some ways," Sakura replied.  
  
"Just my luck, she just had to bring a stupid stuffed animal with her," Li said as he rolled his eyes. "Quit looking at that stupid stuffed animal, and start speeding up!" The girls groaned, and started to follow Li.  
  
"Uh...Li, may I have my necklace back? I mean I am following you, so you don't have to worry about leaving it somewhere, so can I please have it back?" Li looked at her, and took the jewel out of his pocket.  
  
"I'll give it back to you, when you prove you're worthy of it," he replied.  
  
"Huh! What does that mean? It's mine anyway! Why do have to prove that I should have it back!?" Sakura exclaimed. Li tuned out her yelling, and started walking. Suddenly he felt something; the air suddenly became cold, and dark. He looked around, the forest seemed to have gotten much darker, despite the fact that the sun was fully up. The breeze was fast, and sharp, the birds suddenly stopped singing, and the very ground became cold, and ominous. He slowly reached into his cloak and put his hand over the hilt of his sword.  
  
Everything grew silent he couldn't even hear Sakura's complaining anymore. Li looked around the dark forest for the cause of all this. An ice cold chill went down his spine when he faced his right, his hand twitched when he saw something green slowly approach them. The sub-zero feeling moved to his stomach when saw green object grow bigger into an aura, it was flaming, and large, so he knew it was a demon. As it came closer the wind grew violent, and sharp.  
  
"Li what's wrong?" Tomoyo asked. Li didn't look at her, he didn't even move when he replied with a harsh,  
  
"Shh! be quiet!"  
  
"What's going on?" Sakura asked. Li didn't bother to answer her; his eyes were fixed on the green aura approaching them. The bushes made way for a big bulky man with long brown hair in a small ponytail in the back. The muscles on his arms were immense, all his muscles seemed as big a boulder to Li. He wore a tight sleeveless tee-shirt, and black pants, his ears were long and pointed much like an elf's. When he faced the small group, he grinned showing four fang-like teeth in the corners of his mouth. His brown eyes fell on the jewel in Li's hand, and his hand over his sword.  
  
"Well, well, well," he said in a deep voice. "What's a couple of kids doing in a forest like this?"  
  
"None of your damn business now leave us alone," Li replied coldly.  
  
"Li that was rude," Sakura said to him. Li growled softly. Couldn't she see his aura, but then again she never had any real training at how see aura so Li wasn't surprised. The man's eyes looked at the jewel again as he spoke.  
  
"I am Tuigo, this is my dwelling, and to pass through you must pay the tax," Tuigo's eyes looked deeply at the jewel like it was the most important thing on Earth to him.  
  
"We don't have much money on us. We only have 45 gold," Tomoyo replied as she counted the money in her pocket.  
  
"That's quite all right. That jewel your friend's holding will do just fine though," Tuigo said as he looked at jewel again.  
  
"You can just forget it," Li replied as he put the jewel back in his pocket. "It's not going anywhere with you." Li's eyes looked deeply into his reveling that he already knew that he was a demon; Tuigo sensed this and stepped back.  
  
"Well if you won't give up willingly, I'll just have to take it from you!" he growled. Suddenly his eyes became red, and his skin became grey with a thick tail sprouting out from behind him. White horns with red tips started growing from the sides of his head, and his nose. His fang like teeth became true fangs, with teeth designed for slicing growing in. His hands and feet became thick and grey much like an elephant's; he went down on all fours as his back became much bigger. What stood in front of the small group was now a large rhino like creature. His grey skin had some red at the top; his horns were thick, and sharp with destructive teeth to match. His thick tail went side to side as he roared.  
  
"Aw shit, he's demons form his much stronger than the last one I fought," Li thought out loud.  
  
"What is that thing?" Sakura gasped. Li turned around he knew the girls would just get in his way, so he reached into his pocket and threw the jewel at Sakura. When she caught it she looked at him strangely.  
  
"Take the jewel and get the hell out of here!" Li shouted. Sakura nodded, and with that, she and Tomoyo ran. In a flash, Li drew his sword, and got ready to fight. The demon roared, and charged. The ground shook, and the trees were knocked down as the monster made his way towards Li. The young boy swiftly jumped to the side, and attacked with a stab to his back leg. He growled when he saw that his sword didn't penetrate the monster's skin. The demon laughed with his demonic voice, and back kicked Li into a tree. The fiendish beast charged once again, his eyes were fixed on Li, and ready to kill at any minute. Li quickly rushed towards the monster, and jumped on his front horn. With that as a push off he easily flipped over beast, and landed swiftly.  
  
"Let's see your skin protect you from this Youkai! Element lighting!" Li shouted and threw a yellow charm at it. (I think that's what they're called.) A strong blast of lighting struck the beast, but it still wasn't enough to penetrate its skin. The monster laughed, and charged again. Li quickly moved to the side, but the beast quickly turned his head, and struck Li with one of its side horns and knocked him to the ground. The demonic beast turned and rushed towards Li. The young boy jumped to his feet, and jumped onto a low tree branch. The monster struck the tree's base; the tree shook like a strong earthquake hit the tree. Li tried to climb higher, but the shockwave of the hit knocked him off, and he landed flat on his back.  
  
"Give it up you stupid human, your ridiculous weapons can't penetrate my thick skin," the monster laughed. Li growled and got to his knees. The beast roared, and charged towards the weakened boy. The small rocks and pebbles started to move like they were dancing as the beast came closer to him. Li rolled out of the way, but the demonic monster knocked him to the ground with a quick hit with his lower back. Li groaned as he lifted his head off the ground, he gasped when he saw the beast rush towards him. It stopped when it was right in front of him. The demonic beast stood on its hind legs, thinking quickly; Li grabbed his sword, and stabbed the monster in its stomach. He pulled out and found green blood on his blade, that gave Li an idea.  
  
'If I can make a big enough hole in his stomach, then maybe my lighting attack will kill him from the inside out,' Li thought, and slowly got to his feet, he readied another strike to the monster's stomach, but it already caught on to his plan, and was charged him. Li wanted to move, but his body was too damaged from the strikes he had received earlier on in the fight, as a result, he just barely dodged the attack from the beast, but it managed another hit with its side horns again.  
  
"Now to finish you off, human!" the monster laughed, and opened his mouth. Small red dots of energy started to gather together to form a big red ball that was almost as big as his mouth.  
  
'This can't be good,' Li thought, and tried to get away before it could fire, but he waited too long.  
  
"Volcanic Strike!" suddenly an orange red blast shot towards Li. The young boy turned around, only to be hit full force by the blast. The blast felt like he was in the middle of a volcanic eruption with lava flowing all around him, he felt himself getting burned all around his body, not just his back. When it faded, Li was lying on his stomach, with his clothes now rags, and blood coming down the side of his head, and back. The beast chuckled at his accomplishment and followed the scent of Sakura and Tomoyo.  
  
"Now for the jewel."  
  
AN: Oh boy, if Li couldn't beat this thing what hope do Sakura and Tomoyo have? Does this monster have another one of the jewels Li is looking for? And why does he want them in the first place? Who are the figures who sent this beast after our heroes? Oh yeah and AnonymousT I hope this chapter was descriptive enough for you, I did try my best. And if it's not please let me know how I can improve on it. Well with that said there really isn't anything left to say except, SEE YA!!!! 


	4. First Lesson

Seven Deadly Jewels  
  
Chapter 4  
  
"Sakura, do you think we lost him?" Tomoyo asked as the two of them ran from the current battle. Sakura and Tomoyo had in their position a small pink jewel that a demon named Tuigo wanted. Their companion Li decided to take him on alone, while the two girls took the jewel and escaped.  
  
"Yeah I'm pretty sure. Li must have taken care of him by now," Sakura answered. Though they had only seen fight once, Sakura was sure that Li had defeated Tuigo, though she had some doubts that he could defeat something like that on his own. Suddenly the ground started to shake; it wasn't a large shake, just a quick jolt.  
  
"What was that?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura didn't answer, she suddenly felt a dark pit in her stomach, and her stomach felt like it was twirling around, and doing back flips. The air suddenly felt cold, and everything fell silent. Sakura then saw a dark aura charging towards them. She could see the aura as clear as a bell even though it was far away. She could see that it wasn't even damaged from its fight with Li.  
  
"Oh no," she whispered.  
  
"What is it Sakura?" Tomoyo asked nervously. The ground started to shake again, the rocks started to jump up and down, the trees in the distance started to fall over, the shaking grew faster, and faster as Sakura saw the aura come closer, and closer. The jewel in her pocket started to give off a bright red light. The wind seemed to blow faster and swifter, the ground soon felt like there were two or three earthquakes in the area, and the aura came closer, and closer. Sakura gasped, and stepped back.  
  
"Tomoyo, we have to get out of here!" Sakura shouted.  
  
"Why, what is it Sakura, what's going on?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"That monster is coming here!" she exclaimed with panic in her voice. Without second thought, Tomoyo followed her friend as they sprinted through the forest trying to escape the demonic beast. In a matter of minutes the trees behind them started fall, and the ground started to shake much faster than before. Sakura looked behind them and saw that the beast wasn't too far away from them, though she could only see his dark aura, Sakura knew he would be catching up to them in a matter of time.  
  
"What makes you so sure that the monster is coming here Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"I don't know, I just had a feeling like everything was silent, and I could see his energy or aura, whatever you want to call it," Sakura answered as she panted. Suddenly, an orange red blast blew away the trees around them, the monster then jumped out from the side, and landed in front of the girls. His red eyes were fixed on them as he growled, and kicked up some dirt. Sakura and Tomoyo stepped back ready to run the other way in an instant.  
  
"The jewel," he growled. "Give me the jewel!" Sakura clutched the jewel, and put it in her pocket. The demonic beast stepped forward, ready to charge in a flash. "Give me the jewel NOW!!!!" he roared.  
  
"Never! Tomoyo run!!!!" Sakura shouted, and the two girls ran as fast they could to get away from the beast. The ground rocked, and rolled as the monster followed them, his three tusks destroying anything that got in his path. His blood red eyes only saw Sakura, Tomoyo, and the kamikaze necklace. His blood red eyes only saw Sakura, Tomoyo, and the kamikaze necklace. Sakura looked behind them only to find the monster not too far away, she and Tomoyo would be sitting ducks if they didn't get away from this monster.  
  
"Sakura what do we do? That thing is gaining on us!" Tomoyo asked her friend. "Hey I know, try to blow him away like the monster from town, and those ninja demons."  
  
"I don't know how I did those things the last time," Sakura replied. Suddenly out of no where, a strong blast destroyed the path in front of them, now there was only a big hole.  
  
"You cannot escape," the beast said. "Give me the jewel, and you may live." Sakura and Tomoyo stepped back, and felt the edge of the hole. "I'll give you one last chance, give me the jewel."  
  
"Tomoyo I have an idea, just follow my lead," Sakura whispered, Tomoyo nodded. "You want it, you'll have to come and get it." Sakura said, and held it out in front of her.  
  
"You humans truly are foolish creatures," he said and charged.  
  
"On three we jump," Sakura whispered. Tomoyo's eyes widened at the idea, Sakura was planning killing herself, to protect the jewel? The monster charged with a loud roar as the ground cracked, and spilt. "One, two," Sakura counted, and waited until the monster was in arm's reach, "THREE!!!!!" Sakura with all her might and they jumped backwards into the hole and the monster followed. Unknown to him, the two girls grabbed the edge of the hole saving them, but the monster jumped too far, and fell.  
  
"Great idea Sakura," Tomoyo said with a smile.  
  
"Thanks now let's go find Li," Sakura replied as they pulled themselves up. The two followed the path of destruction left by the monster as they looked for Li. The monster had ripped through the trees like scissors through paper, the ground was ripped, torn, and in halves, flowers were trampled, and ragged. The destruction left by Tuigo seemed endless as the two girls retraced their steps. The destruction seemed to cease at the clearing where Li told them to run. There were small fires around the area; plants were just as trampled here as it was in the other parts of the forest. The two girls found ash in a small pile, near it was Li's sword.  
  
"Oh no, Li, can you hear me?" Sakura said as she dug out the ash, Tomoyo helped her as they dug out the ash, and found Li knocked out. The cloak he was wearing seemed to have burned off somehow, showing his green robes, but even those had holes in them here and there. They turned the boy over, and found his head bleeding, and bruises all along his arms, and chest. His hair was filled with dirt, and rocks. His right arm seemed broken or at least fractured. Tomoyo was open his robes even more to see if he was bleeding anywhere else, when her wrist was locked in Li's tight grip. His eyes suddenly snapped open, and his left hand snatched up his sword in an instant ready to slice off her head.  
  
"Oh it's only you two," he said as he relaxed. "Where's the jewel did that monster get it?" Sakura shook her head, and held it up to prove it.  
  
"We took care of that monster," Sakura said proudly. Li only grunted and slowly got up with the help of his sword. Suddenly, he had a numb feeling in his stomach, he could just barely sense it, but it was there, the aura of Tuigo, he was still alive. His eyes were fixed on the spot where Tuigo was charging towards them, he tightened his grip on his sword hilt, and limped forward.  
  
"Listen, I might need you two after all," Li said to the girls, who looked at him in confusion. Li's eyes narrowed as he felt the demonic beast drew closer. "I need you two to create a distraction to take his mind of me just for a second, then I can finish him." They still gave him a confused look.  
  
"Why? I mean that beast is dead isn't he?" Sakura said in uncertainty. Suddenly Tuigo burst through the trees, and roared.  
  
"NO MORE GAMES!!!! I WANT THE JEWEL!!!!!"  
  
"Scratch that Sakura!" Tomoyo gasped. Tuigo roared, and charged at the small group. Li quickly jumped to the nearest branch just barely avoiding the assault. He watched as Sakura and Tomoyo ran for their lives to get away from the enraged Tuigo. Li looked around, and saw a vine, he thought, and smirked.  
  
"GIVE ME THE JEWEL NOW!!!!!" the monster bellowed, and rammed into a tree, knocking it over. Sakura and Tomoyo dove to opposite sides to escape the thrust. Tuigo suddenly turned and faced Sakura with his red eyes fixed on her pocket. He kicked up dirt ready to charge in a second. Sakura started to back away, but Tuigo started to ready himself for another hurtle. Sakura was about to turn and run when a loud cry hit her ears. She looked up and saw Li swing through the air on a vine. The warrior quickly double kicked the monster, knocking him on his side. He quickly jumped down, and drew out a talisman.  
  
"Try this, lighting!" he shouted, and launched the talisman at the sword wound he gave him earlier. The lighting shot through his whole body, making the beast growl in pain, but it still wasn't enough to stop him. The beast rolled back on his feet, and charged at Li. The weakened boy could just barely evade the assault, and landed on his side. He looked and saw that Tuigo wasn't coming back around; he was heading for Sakura, who turned around to help Tomoyo.  
  
"Shit," he growled. "Sakura look out!!" he yelled. Sakura looked behind her, and saw Tuigo coming right towards her. She gasped, and jumped to the side, but the beast knocked her down with his side tusks. The jewel rolled out of her pocket as she hit the ground, Sakura tried to grab it, but before she could, Tuigo scooped it up with his mouth, and swallowed it. The beast smirked and felt much different than before even though externally there were no changes. The demonic beast rushed over to Li, he was so fast he was right in front of him in two seconds!  
  
"Time to finish this game," he chuckled, and opened his mouth ready to charge up his blast.  
  
'Damn it!' Li quickly rolled to the side, and stabbed his stomach again, but Tuigo back kicked him into a tree. Li quickly dodged the monster's follow up attack, and dove into some bushes. The warrior looked around him and saw a river below a hill, if he could just paralyze him with his lighting attack, then blow him into the water that would certainly be enough to destroy him.  
  
"Hey!" Li called to Sakura who carried Tomoyo to safety in some bushes behind him. "I'm going to try to paralyze him, then you have to blow him into the water, you get it?" Sakura looked at him with fear, and uncertainty. She shook her head.  
  
"No, no I can't do it! I-I-I-I don't even know how I used those powers last time! You have to try it some other way!"  
  
"Shut up!!" Li shouted at her. "You expect your powers just come like some dog that you give a command to? A sorcerer has to work to get the powers to get the powers he so desires. You said you wanted to learn how to control your own magic? Well how can you when every time you need to use your powers you back away like a powerless girl?"  
  
"But Li I'm too scared!" Sakura whimpered.  
  
"So!?" Li barked. "Magic is always about facing your fears. How can you expand on your magic when you're too afraid to move! Maybe you are a useless girl, I don't know why I even bother to let come with me! Your not wroth the time to teach magic to! Just sit there like the useless powerless girl you are!" With that Li jumped towards the beast, and slashed his leg, knocking him down a little, giving Li the opening he needed and threw another lighting talisman. The lighting shot through his body again, paralyzing him. He wasn't sure what to do until Sakura popped out, and stood in front of it.  
  
"I am not useless, and I am not powerless, I am worthy to learn magic, and I'll prove it to you!" Sakura said, and put out her hands. Tuigo roared, frightening Sakura for a second, but then she remember what Li said. Sakura looked at the beast and shot her hands forward, a strong wind suddenly blew out of no where. Li and Tomoyo had to hold on to something so that they would get blown away themselves. Tuigo's body was easily blown into river, as soon as he hit the water he roared out in pain as the electricity was ten times worse than before. It too much to bear, soon his whole body was destroyed in a fiery explosion. The small group went down to the river to survey the damage. Li found the necklace on the bank with piece of Tuigo floating towards a waterfall.  
  
"Thank god that's over," he said, and put the necklace in his pocket.  
  
"That was amazing Sakura," Tomoyo complimented. Sakura smiled at her, but looked at Li with a hopeful glance. Li just rolled his eyes, and turned his back on them.  
  
"We'd better get going, we probably won't get out of this forest until this afternoon," Li said and started walking. Sakura and Tomoyo groaned, and started follow him.  
  
Meanwhile back at the castle, the four figures watched from a crystal ball.  
  
"So the beast boy couldn't get the job done either," the blue haired figure said.  
  
"The moron couldn't even kill the girl," the thin figure chuckled.  
  
"I am not surprised, he had no honor, no warrior will he was destined to fail," the spiked figure grunted.  
  
"Looks like we'll have to send out even more powerful servants then," the white haired figure said softly, his voice just barely above a whisper. The three figures saluted, and walked out.  
  
'They must be killed before the true power of the necklace of kamikaze is reveled,' the white haired figure said, and reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue stone. 'All of them will soon be mine.'  
  
AN: Well it looks like Sakura just learned the first lesson of magic, face your fears, even though Li taught it to her in his own way which is harshly. And it looks like the bad guys are going to try harder to get Sakura's necklace. Well at least the gang managed to keep the jewel this time, but what lies in the future of this journey? What kind of other monsters, and demons will the villains unleash? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya! 


	5. The Dark Killer

Seven Deadly Jewels  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Sakura and Tomoyo sighed when they saw that they were finally out of the forest. Their eyes sparkled when they saw a town below a hill. Li just rolled his eyes, and walked down the hill.  
  
"Don't expect to find any rest here, we're just passing through this town," Li informed them as he walked towards the town.  
  
"Oh come on Li!" Sakura argued. "We've been in that stupid forest for four whole days!"  
  
"We hardly had any rest, and now that we finally found a town you're saying we're not even going to rest for a second?" Tomoyo asked. Li just smirked without looking at them.  
  
"Exactly. Now suck it up and start walking!" he barked, and kept walking. Sakura and Tomoyo groaned, there was just no reasoning with him, it was always his way, or get left behind, that's what they learned about Li in just four days. As they made their way through town, Sakura, and Tomoyo couldn't help but look at the many merchants selling beautiful clothes, and jewelry.  
  
"Li couldn't we just..." Tomoyo began, but Li cut her off.  
  
"Don't think we're spending our money on that shit."  
  
"Oh come on, I doubt these things cost that much anyway!" she argued.  
  
"Do you need them to survive?" he asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then obviously you don't need it, now shut up, and keep walking!" Li growled. Sakura and Tomoyo still couldn't help but look around at the all the shops, and merchants selling fine jewelry. The houses and shops were small wooden structures that proved that this was not a poor town, but not very rich either. The long dusty roads were covered with tracks from horses, and people. The loud chatter of people and the laughter of children mixed with the air. Li growled when a merchant offered him a fine piece of jewelry. Tomoyo and Sakura pushed him to buy it, but Li just answered with an ice cold stare to the merchant, and moved on.  
  
"Li why didn't buy it? That was a great necklace!" Sakura said. "I told you we aren't spending money on shit like that," Li said without turning around. When they turned the corner, and passed an alley a way and female voice called out,  
  
"Stop right there murder!" Li looked into the alley way, and saw a young girl with long red hair in pigtails jump towards him. She had a blue gi with a black belt, and her kendo stick drawn. The girl brought down her stick on Li's head as she came down. The girl smirked when she saw his head go down, but her eyes had pure terror when Li looked at her with an extreme cold stare.  
  
"What the hell did you do that for?" he growled. The girl walked backwards as Li walked towards her. "But if it's a fight you want, then come and get it!" Li said and drew his sword under his cloak.  
  
"Get back murder!" she yelled, and started swinging the stick rapidly trying to sound brave, but really she was terrified. Li easily dodged the attacks, and knocked the stick out her hands with a swift kick. The girl fell back as Li put his sword to her neck.  
  
"Now explain yourself before your head rolls off your shoulders," Li threatened. The girl's blue eyes looked into Li's amber ones with anger, and fear.  
  
"You should you know murder, I'm not even sure why you haven't killed me yet," the girl said.  
  
"You obviously have Li confused with someone else, he hasn't killed anybody," Sakura said.  
  
"Li?" the girl repeated. "You're the one who's wrong, this is the infamous murderer Siga Miro!"  
  
"Do you want your life to end?" Li asked, and edged his sword closer to her neck.  
  
"You see he is a murder!" the girl said.  
  
"If I was this murderer you speak of, you'd already be dead," Li said. "So tell me, what the hell is going on?" Sweat trickled her brow as Li looked at her with his cold amber glare.  
  
"Mira! Please don't hurt her!" an old voice said from behind them.  
  
"Great now what?" Li groaned.  
  
"Please, please forgive my granddaughter," the old man pleaded.  
  
"What's your granddaughter talking about sir?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Please come to my home, and I will tell you everything."  
  
Sakura and Tomoyo ate and drank as if they hadn't eaten in a week. They were in a small house on the outskirts of town. A small fire burned in the corner, and the old man sat with the travelers smoking his pipe. Li merely looked at his food, and waited for the explanation of the situation. He watched as the girl named Mira cooked for them.  
  
"Please forgive my granddaughter," the old man said as he smoked.  
  
"So what caused Mira to think Li was some sort of a murderer?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"You see, there has been a series of killings in our town for the past three years. Ruthless killings. Women and children slaughtered, half of the town's population has decreased because this man, his name is Siga Miro. No one has seen him, but he leaves his name on every body," the old man explained.  
  
"Why would kill so many people?" Sakura asked, obviously appalled by this man.  
  
"No one knows. He just appeared one day, and killed all those he saw, including Mira's parents, which is why she hunts him down."  
  
"But if no one has seen him, why would Mira think Li is this monster?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"Your friend is the only person in town who has a sword, besides Suigo anyway." Li closed his eyes and stood up.  
  
"Well thanks for the info, we'll be on our way," he said and headed for the door. "Come on you two, we're leaving." Sakura and Tomoyo gave him a weird look. They quickly excused themselves, and met Li outside.  
  
"What are you doing Li?" Sakura asked. "These people need our help! You're gonna let a madman like roam free in a peaceful place like this?"  
  
"I told you, we're only passing through this town, what happens here is none of our concern," Li said simply.  
  
"What do you mean! Innocent people are dying in this town for no reason at all, does that sound right to you?" Tomoyo asked him.  
  
"People die everyday for reason at all, it's something called life. Death is just a part of life, one would not be complete without the other," Li countered.  
  
"But death here isn't even justified! Children are dying Li! You're just going to walk away from that!" Sakura shouted.  
  
"This is town's problem, not ours. They will deal with it their own way. Now come on, I want to get out of here by nightfall," Li said dryly and started walking away.  
  
"You're just scared aren't you!" Sakura yelled.  
  
"Believe what you want, I don't care, but I will not get involved in something that doesn't concern me," Li said without turning around, or any raise in his voice.  
  
"You Selfish JERK!!!!!!" Sakura yelled. "Everything about you isn't it! You won't help anybody unless in concerns you! It's always your way or the highway! I can't stand it anymore! And now your selfishness is going to cost innocent people their lives! Can you live with yourself knowing you could have done something to prevent these meaningless deaths!"  
  
"Sometimes being selfish is the only way to live. People could care less about you, so you have learn how to careless about them," Li countered again.  
  
"Well go ahead! Get out of town! Tomoyo and I will just handle this problem ourselves!" Sakura huffed, and turned around.  
  
"Go ahead, see if I care," Li said, and left.  
  
That night, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Mira waited in an alley way in the main part of town. Mira said this is where Siga usually made his kills. Sakura sat down, and looked at her hands. In the past four days Li started training her, it was simple training, but she hoped it would be enough to stop this madman. She closed her eyes and thought about what he taught her.  
  
Flashback  
  
"Again!" he yelled. It was midday in the forest. Sakura stood across from Li who told her to blow a small rock he threw at her into the air with her powers. He had thrown it at her twelve times, and she only succeeded four times. The rocks didn't hurt, usually just a sting, telling her that she was too slow. Li said to focus seeing the rock blow into the air, and to think of the wind coming out from her. Every time she would try to think of those things it would take too long. Sakura tried harder and harder each day, Li never said 'good job,' or 'good try,' he would always say a harsh 'faster!' or 'too slow!' Sakura tried harder until one day she got it.  
  
"I hope you're ready!" Li shouted and threw the rock. Sakura's eyes were fixed on the rock as it whistled through the air. She outstretched her arm, and thought of the blowing wind, and how fast it was. She thought of it howling past her, and the rock suddenly curling into the air. The rock was slowly coming close to her when she heard it, the wind blow through the air. She felt a strong, but gentle power suddenly awaken in her, and flow into her hand. The rock in a flash was blown into the air, and landed deeper in the forest. Sakura looked at Li expecting for a smile or him saying 'Good job!' but no, he just looked at her with his same cold stare, and picked up a bigger rock.  
  
"Now for a bigger one," he said simply.  
  
End Flashback  
  
"Sakura, Tomoyo!" Mira whispered. "There he is!" Sakura and Tomoyo looked and saw a man with sliver spiky hair that went straight up. He wore a black gi with two swords at his sides. All over his cheeks, and forehead were scars, and bruises. If Sakura was properly trained she would have seen the pure evil aura surrounding him, and sensed the dark supernatural powers laying within him.  
  
"Are you sure that's him?" Tomoyo asked. Mira nodded.  
  
"I can sense his evil from here," Mira said as they watched him from the corner. They saw two men walk pass the dark man. The dark swordsman smirked, and drew one of his swords. The girls gasped in shock and fear when they saw him thrust his sword into the first man's throat. The second one gasped, and started to run as fast as he could for help, but the killer instantly appeared in front of him, and made his head roll off his shoulders. Sakura and Tomoyo nearly threw up when they saw the man's head roll in front him.  
  
"Well looks like I have an audience tonight," Siga said in a soft, and dark voice. The killer turned and looked into the alley.  
  
"You're damn right you have an audience tonight Miro!" Mira shouted, and jumped out of the corner with her kendo stick drawn. Sakura and Tomoyo were behind her. "And together we will stop you!" Siga just laughed.  
  
"Three girls! That's the best this town could come up to stop me! What a joke!" Siga laughed. "But for being witnesses you will have to die as well." Siga slowly made his way towards them. Sakura and Tomoyo were sacred out of their minds. Siga could kill all three of them in a breath. Sakura hardly had any training while Tomoyo was just as green as she was. The girls tried hiding their fear, but were failing slightly. A dark smile formed on Siga's lips as he came closer to them. Mira gripped her stick, took a deep breath, and charge with all her might, yelling as loud as she could to gain power.  
  
"This is for my parents!!!!" she yelled and swung with all her might towards his ribs, but Siga blocked it with his forearm like it was nothing. He looked at her with his dark smile, and raised his sword.  
  
"You shall be first," he said with pure pleasure in his voice. Mira shook in pure terror as she watched his sword come down.  
  
"Mira!!" Sakura and shot out her hand. A powerful wind suddenly blew the sword out of the killer's hands, saving Mira for the moment. Siga looked at Sakura with excited eyes.  
  
"So you have a mage among you do you. This should be entertaining," he said in a dark, but happy tone. Siga drew his second sword with the same dark smile on his lips. "I only use this sword to battle spell casters like you. There are only two in this town, and I killed both of them in one stroke. I wonder what kind of challenge a woman spell caster with bring." Sakura stepped back, but she refused to run. She quickly signaled for Tomoyo to get Mira to safety. Tomoyo quickly ran behind the killer, and grabbed Mira. Sakura looked at the new drawn sword. It was a black katana with a green gem jammed in the hilt. Sakura quickly jumped back when she saw the sword come down, but the wind that came from the strike seemed to unleash some kind of dark force that knocked Sakura down.  
  
"Sakura, run!" Tomoyo yelled. Siga swung his sword towards Tomoyo. Though she was too far to use a sword, a dark curved blast shot towards the girl. Tomoyo was too shocked to move, the blast knocked her into the wall of a house, and knocked her out.  
  
"Tomoyo!" Sakura called. Mira yelled and attacked again. Siga smirked, and pointed his sword towards the charging girl. A dark green flame shot out of the sword, and blasted Mira into the ground. Sakura tried to go to her friends' aid, but Siga stopped her by grabbing her leg.  
  
"You aren't going anywhere miss mage," he said and raised his sword. Sakura turned, and kicked Siga in his face freeing her. The amber haired girl rushed to her friends. She sighed with relief when she saw that they were only knocked out, but fear soon overcame relief when she heard Siga make his way towards her. She tried to blow him away, but her attack was too weak compared to his power. Sakura gasped, and tried to run, but was stopped when Siga slashed her back, just barely missing her spine, but Sakura fell to the ground. The pain was so unbearable she couldn't move. Siga's dark smile terrified her as she watched him come closer to her. Her breathing quickened, and her heart started beating at unheard of speed as she watched him advance towards her. Horror stamped on her face as she watched his sword come down towards her.  
  
AN: Oh no!! Who can, and will save Sakura? Why is Siga on such a killing spree? Will anyone be spared from his wrath? Can Sakura survive her first real battle? Or will she become another victim in Siga's wave death and murder? Why is Siga doing this in the first place? And is that gem one of the deadly jewels? The answers to these questions and more in the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. SEE YA!!!!! 


	6. The Corrupted Jewel

Seven Deadly Jewels  
  
Chapter 6  
  
"You aren't going anywhere miss mage," he said and raised his sword. Sakura turned, and kicked Siga in his face freeing her. The amber haired girl rushed to her friends. She sighed with relief when she saw that they were only knocked out, but fear soon overcame relief when she heard Siga make his way towards her. She tried to blow him away, but her attack was too weak compared to his power. Sakura gasped, and tried to run, but was stopped when Siga slashed her back, just barely missing her spine, but Sakura fell to the ground. The pain was so unbearable she couldn't move. Siga's dark smile terrified her as she watched him come closer to her. Her breathing quickened and her heart started beating at unheard of speed as she watched him advance towards her. Horror stamped on her face as she watched his sword come down towards her.  
  
Sakura quickly rolled out of the way, and grabbed Siga's normal sword. Siga looked at her, and merely laughed.  
  
"You expect to battle me with my own sword girl? HA! I bet you don't even know how to handle a sword!" Siga chuckled. Sakura growled softly. Her brother gave her very basic kendo lessons, so she hoped they would be enough. Siga smirked and charged towards the young girl. Sakura gasped and jumped to the side, just narrowly missing Siga's attack. She pivoted on her left foot, and thrust out the sword. Siga easily parried and countered with a knee to her stomach. Sakura eyes widened as she gasped for breath, Siga continued his attack with a fast uppercut that knocked the young girl on her back.  
  
"You provided me with no challenge at all girl," he said as he walked towards her. "Now say goodbye!" Siga raised his sword over his head when Sakura suddenly thrust the sword through the killer's stomach. Siga gasped, and stepped backwards dropping his sword in the process. Sakura got up when she saw Siga fall. The young girl breathed a sigh of relief, and ran over to her friends' aid.  
  
"Tomoyo, Mira, are you guys okay?" Sakura asked. Tomoyo and Mira both moaned as they got up.  
  
"I'm okay," Tomoyo replied.  
  
"Nothing broken," Mira reported. "Sakura you finished Siga?" Sakura nodded.  
  
"I guess I just got lucky," she admitted.  
  
"Luck or not you did it Sakura!" Tomoyo said happily. Mira nodded in agreement. Sakura just smiled.  
  
"Yeah I guess I did."  
  
"Come on, let's head back to my grandpa's we have to tell him the news!" Mira said excitedly. When they were about to walk away, a sudden blast of green flame blocked the way out with a wall of fire. The girls looked around; the whole area was sealed off in a ring of green fire. They all had looks of horror and disbelief when they heard Siga chuckle.  
  
"Did you fools really think you could kill me that easily?!" Siga laughed from the ground. The girls gasped when they saw Siga get up with the sword still impaired in his stomach.  
  
"There's no way he should be alive!" Tomoyo said in horror.  
  
"Damn! Is there no stopping this bastard?" Mira growled. Siga smirked, and pulled out the sword from his stomach.  
  
"Such a fowl mouth from such a beautiful flower, but like all flowers you will have a short life!" Siga laughed, and picked up his other sword.  
  
"Oh no, if he was powerful with one sword, he must unstoppable with two!" Sakura gasped as Siga made his way towards them.  
  
"Exactly, I am unstoppable! By the time this night is over, you all shall be nothing but bones!" Siga charged both his swords ready to kill all three of them. The girls scattered in different directions saving themselves for that second, but the night was far from over.  
  
"We have to get out of here, and get help!" Sakura said to her friends.  
  
"From who though? We can't get out of this area remember?" Tomoyo reminded her.  
  
"So what the hell do we do?" Mira asked them.  
  
"You can do nothing but die!!" Siga shouted, jumped in front of them. Everything seemed to slow down as Siga waved his sword. A green wave knocked all three of them down, then the killer jumped in the air.  
  
"What's he doing?" Sakura wondered.  
  
"Take this!! Demonic dragon flame!!!" Green fire covered both swords; Siga smiled darkly and put both swords together. It created a massive flame shaped like a dragon, Siga brought down the swords, sending the dragon towards the girls. They looked with pure fear as the dragon shot towards them. It was too wide to move to the side, this was the end for them. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Mira shut their eyes, and readied themselves for them impact.  
  
"Element Wind!!!" a strong voice suddenly shouted. In a flash a clear, but strong shield covered them. The dragon hit the shield, shield, and the dragon cancelled each other out, but the girls were safe for now. Sakura looked behind them and saw Li jump down from a house.  
  
"Li!" Sakura said happily.  
  
"Can't you do anything by yourself?" Li asked rudely as he passed them.  
  
"Ah a new player for my game!" Siga said happily as he came down. "I hope you came prepared for death!" Li just scoffed.  
  
"Spare me."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Spare me the tough guy act. I know you aren't this strong naturally."  
  
"What do you mean? I am strong! I can kill 500 people with just one stroke!" Li chuckled.  
  
"500 people? Give me a break. You maybe able to kill 500 normal people with just one stroke, but I bet you can't kill 500 properly trained warriors with one stroke," Li said with a small smirk. Siga growled and got in a ready stance.  
  
"I will cut you to pieces, and then burn those pieces so they go straight to hell!" Li scoffed again.  
  
"You can talk big, but I bet you aren't as strong as people think you are."  
  
"I'll show you!!!!" Siga shouted, and charged.  
  
"Your friend really got Siga worked up, I've never seen anyone do that before," Mira said.  
  
"Yep that's our Li; he can get on anyone's nerves, especially ours," Tomoyo said. Siga brought down both his swords with amazing speed. Li easily darted out the way, and countered with a swift kick to Siga's mid-section. The killer turned and attacked with a horizontal slash hoping to cut off Li's head. Li smirked, and ducked. Siga gasped while Li delivered four swift jabs to the killer's stomach. The young boy knocked Siga to ground with a quick roundhouse kick across his face. The dark killer growled while Li looked at him with a smug look on his face.  
  
"Ready to give up?" he asked. Siga reached into his gi and pulled out a dagger.  
  
"Take this boy!" he shouted and hurled the dagger at him. Li quickly sidestepped it, but Siga came in with a stab towards his heart. Li flipped backwards, his legs managed to knock the sword out of Siga's hands. As Li watched the sword hit the ground he saw the green gem jammed in the hilt.  
  
'I thought so,' Li thought as he landed. Siga looked at Li with a look of hatred and frustration. "You have the gem of inferno jammed in you're hilt, no wonder you were so powerful to the average human."  
  
"He had one of those jewels in his sword?" Tomoyo said.  
  
"No wonder no one in town could stop him," Mira growled. Li on the other hand chuckled.  
  
"So you find a jewel that makes you stronger, then to prove that you're strong, you kill these people, how weak," Li said.  
  
"That jewel gave me what I always wanted! Power! I was nothing but another weak human; people robbed me, beat me, and I could do nothing about it! I wanted power, I had taught myself swordsmanship, but that wasn't enough either. Then one day while was training I found a green gem in the river. As soon as I picked it up I felt power flow through me, unstoppable power! So I jammed it in my sword and I became the God of Death in this town!"  
  
"How like a weakling," Li scoffed. "Depending solely on a jewel instead of training for the power you desire. You make me sick, you weakling."  
  
"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO THE WEAK ONE IS!!!!!!" Siga bellowed, and outstretched his hand. His sword shot towards his hands. "I WILL KILL YOU THEN I'LL PROVE WHO'S STRONG AND WHO'S WEAK!!!!" Siga laughed hysterically. His eyes were becoming red and demonic like. Veins could be seen all around his face and neck, his muscles started to expand to an unnatural size. The dark aura around started to grow until it seemed to consume him.  
  
'Shit, it looks like the jewel is taking full control of Siga now. His power may increase, but soon it will completely consume him,' Li thought as Siga charged. Li barely had time to dodge since his speed seemed to increase as well. Siga started wildly swing his sword at speed that easily surpassed the average human.  
  
"WE'LL SEE ONCE AND FOR ALL WHOSE THE WEAK ONE!!!!!" Siga roared, and continued to swing wildly.  
  
'He's completely out of control. If I don't do something and fast there won't be a house standing in this area,' Li thought as he dodged Siga's attacks.  
  
"Flaming Blades!!" Siga shouted. The blades of his swords were soon covered in green flames. The killer threw them at the young warrior, Li quickly jumped over them. As soon as he felt the ground on his feet, it felt as though two tons of bricks hit his face. Li was knocked back into a wall of a house, when he looked up he saw Siga with his fist out stretched.  
  
"Not bad for a weakling," Li said as he rubbed his jaw. Siga growled and threw three more punches. Li dodged them, and managed to counter with a swift kick to his chest, but it looked as though Siga didn't feel it. The killer grabbed Li leg, and threw him over his shoulders. When Li got up, Siga rammed him into a wall, and started throwing rapid punches in his stomach, and face. Li's face was practically full of bruises when he finally managed to block a left hook from Siga. The young boy kneed his stomach, and knocked him away with a strong elbow strike. Siga backed up, and grabbed his swords. Li felt the dark aura around grow as he picked up his swords, Siga charged in ready to slice Li in half with a strong veridical strike. Li quickly drew his sword and blocked the attack, but Siga was stronger than he thought.  
  
"HA HA!!!! NOW WHOSE WEAK, YOU CAN BARELY HOLD UP MY SWORDS!!!!!! IN A MATTER OF SECONDS YOU'LL BE NOTHING BUT LITTLE PIECES IN THE WIND!!!!!!!!!" Siga laughed, and pushed down more. Li growled, and fell to his knees still trying to hold up Siga's swords. He slowly felt one of his swords cut his shoulder, he couldn't hold on for much longer. Siga laughed as he added more weight to his swords, Li growled he was slowly losing feeling in his hands, which meant any minute now he would drop his sword, and die.  
  
"Hang on Li!" Sakura shouted.  
  
"You can do it!" Tomoyo cheered.  
  
"You two should really shut up," Li growled, and tried to fight back, but the weight and power was too much for him. Li slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a talisman, he took a deep breath, and with the last of his inner power he pushed up on his sword knocking Siga's swords away for a second.  
  
"What's this?" Siga shouted.  
  
"Take this! Element Lighting!" he shouted, and threw the talisman towards Siga's forehead. Lighting suddenly shot through Siga's whole body, he shook, and yelled in pain as the lighting continued to tear his body apart. Li smirked, and jumped in the air.  
  
"You cannot kill me nobody can kill me!!!!" Siga shouted as he looked at Li.  
  
"Well there's a first time for everything you know!" Li shouted back, and brought down his sword. In a matter of seconds Siga was nothing but two halves, but before they could fall they burned up, and evaporated along with his swords.  
  
"He did it!!!!!!!" the girls cheered. Li ignored them, and looked at the gem. It was now a dark shade of green.  
  
'The jewel has been tainted by Siga's evil ways. The once pure glow is now corrupted. It's now pure evil, if anyone picks it up now the evil stored inside with corrupt the person. I probably shouldn't pick it up,' Li thought as he looked at the jewel.  
  
"That was great Li!" Tomoyo said as she and the other girls walked up to him. Sakura picked up the jewel as she made her way towards him. Li looked at her as if he was ready to kill her, but then he looked at the jewel and saw that the dark glow was gone.  
  
'She purified the jewel just by picking it up. Usually it takes someone of high magical status to purify such a tainted jewel. Is there more to her and her magic than I first thought?'  
  
"Li something wrong?" Sakura asked. Li just turned around and started walking.  
  
"Let's go," he said simply. "Because this detour we won't be out of here until morning, so this is going to be non-stop. No breakfast, no dinner, or that other shit you two complain about."  
  
"Come on Li, we did a good thing, and you got a jewel out of the deal," Sakura argued.  
  
"I don't care. I didn't even want to help this damn town in the first place," Li said.  
  
"So then why did you come back?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Because I sensed the jewel being activated. I didn't do it to help anyone."  
  
"You're so considerate," Sakura said sarcastically.  
  
"Thank you for everything!!!" Mira shouted as they left. Li didn't look back at her, but Tomoyo and Sakura waved at her.  
  
"You're welcome. If anything else goes wrong feel free to com and find us!" Tomoyo said.  
  
"Just don't count on me to save your asses when things get tough," Li simply.  
  
"Will you stop being so selfish!"  
  
AN: Well that's that. Will our three heroes ever get along? Will Li ever stop being selfish? Probably not. What more dangers will threaten our heroes? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Oh and thank you all for reviewing. I hope this fic will get as popular as most of my other ones. The Gallio Saga is very popular; check it out if you want to read more of my work. Anyway, See ya, and remember to R&R!!!!!!! 


	7. The Deadly Thunder Warriors

Seven Deadly Jewels  
  
Chapter 7  
  
"Li are you sure about this?" Sakura asked one day. The three travelers were walking through a long and rocky valley. Sakura looked uncertain as she and Tomoyo looked at the tall cliff Li was climbing.  
  
"It does look steep," Tomoyo said. "Maybe we should find another way to get past this."  
  
"That'll take too long, now climb the damn cliff!" Li barked as he climbed.  
  
"But still all those rocks might cause an avalanche," Sakura said.  
  
"Will stop being so damn paranoid! It's only a cliff not a mountain, now just climb the thing!" Li shouted as he reached the top.  
  
"You will help us up right?" Tomoyo asked hopefully.  
  
"Hell no," Li replied as he walked away. Sakura and Tomoyo pouted and started climbing.  
  
"Li how long will we be in this valley anyway?" Sakura asked with a groan as she climbed.  
  
"I'd have to say, a whole month if you guys are this slow," Li replied as he sat on a rock.  
  
"Hey, were doing our best here!" Sakura said, and struggled to make it to the next rock.  
  
"It's not like we do this all the time," Tomoyo agreed. Li just scoffed.  
  
"You guys are so pathetic. You expect to get help all the time? People won't always come to your rescue you know. You have to do things on your own sometimes." Sakura and Tomoyo groaned as they made their way to the next rock. As they climbed, Li looked over the two jewels he had colleted, the kamikaze necklace and the Gem of Inferno.  
  
'Five more left, but I know the rest aren't going to be as easy as these two,' he thought. His chain of thought was broken when he heard the groans of Sakura and Tomoyo as they made it to the top.  
  
"God it feels like my arms are going to fall off," Sakura panted.  
  
"At least your legs don't feel like they weigh ten tons!" Tomoyo sighed, and sat down.  
  
"It's about time you slowpokes got here, now let's go," Li said, and started walking.  
  
"Li please, we need a break," Sakura panted, and sat down.  
  
"No, if we stop now, we won't be out of this valley until tomorrow. This valley is long and even more dangerous at night. So what do you prefer feeling pain that'll probably go away in a matter of minutes, or being attacked when it's pitch black?"  
  
"You make it sound like the pain is nothing," Tomoyo said.  
  
"Yeah well it probably is. So which one do you want?" The girls stayed silent for a while. "I guess that means we're walking now." Li then started walking again.  
  
"Sakura when you said you wanted him to train you, did you have any idea it would be like this?" Tomoyo whispered.  
  
"No. I'm starting think I made a big mistake. Ever since this whole thing started, we've chased, blasted at, traveling hungry, walking at the crack of dawn, and fighting these evil monsters. But we don't down what this whole thing is about!" Sakura whispered back.  
  
"Do you think we should ask Li?" Tomoyo suggested.  
  
"No, I don't think he would give us a straight answer. I don't even think he would answer us at all," Sakura said.  
  
"Yeah, he doesn't look like the type of person who would tell us something like that," Tomoyo agreed.  
  
"He's more of the secretive type," Sakura said.  
  
"But you have to admit he is kind of cute, in a bossy, rude, and secretive way." Sakura just giggled.  
  
"Tomoyo you're way too obsessed with boys."  
  
"Could you two move any slower?!" Li yelled from far ahead of them.  
  
"What's your hurry!" Sakura back.  
  
"Are you afraid of the dark or something?" Tomoyo asked. Li shot them a cold glare, silencing them in an instant.  
  
"Just shut up, both of you shut up, and walk faster!" he shouted, and shot them another glare, before he started walking again.  
  
"I've never seen Li that mad before. Either we struck a cord, or he's just in a bad mood," Sakura said.  
  
"When is he not in a bad mood?"  
  
By dusk, it took all of Sakura and Tomoyo's focus just to see where they were going, and according to Li it would only get darker, and darker.  
  
"Li how much longer until we get out of this valley?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Yeah, I can barely see anything," Tomoyo said.  
  
"We still have a long way, so just shut up, and keep walking!" Li growled. The three of them looked up when they heard the rumbling of thunder.  
  
"Oh no, don't tell me it's going to rain!" Tomoyo groaned.  
  
"Not only will we get soaked, but we can't even see anywhere to take cover," Sakura sighed. Li on the other hand looked at the rain clouds with a stern look on his face.  
  
'I can sense, a strong dark presence in those clouds, no there's two of them, and they're powerful, extremely powerful!' Li thought as he readied his sword. Sakura slowly approached Li, and tapped his shoulder.  
  
"Li come on, we have to try and find shelter from this rain," she said cautiously as if she expected him to turned around, and slice off her head. Lighting cracked across they sky, and a loud boom of thunder followed it. The clouds soon burst with strong, and rough rain, and soon the whole valley was covered with darkness.  
  
"I've never seen a storm this rough!" Tomoyo yelled over the loud, and powerful winds.  
  
"Li, we have to get out of this storm!" Sakura said a little louder.  
  
"This isn't a storm, genius," Li said sarcastically as a streak of lighting hit a tree, and caused a fire.  
  
"If this isn't a storm I'd hate to see what a real storm is!" Tomoyo said. The lighting started to get closer, and closer to the travelers. The booming of thunder blared through the entire valley. The lighting suddenly struck right in front of Li and Sakura. Sakura jumped behind Li when the lighting hit. There was a bright white light when it hit, the three of them shielded their eyes from the extreme light. Li even though Li could see them, he could sense the amazing power of the two inside of the light.  
  
"Well, well, well if it isn't trespassers in our lands," a cocky voice said from inside of the light.  
  
"They're merely children, this won't be very fun," a deep, and strong voice grunted. When the light started to die down, it reveled two young men. One was tall, and skinny. His yellow eyes were full of power, and it held a thirst for a fight. His long black hair swayed in the strong wind, and in his hands was a long twin bladed pike.  
  
The other one was large, and very muscular. It was because of his muscles that he was taller than the other one. His red eyes stared at Li and the others with pure evil shining in them. His short black hair was tied in a short ponytail. On his waist was a large double bladed ax.  
  
'Just as I figured,' Li thought. The strong storm seemed to die down as the two figures walked towards the small group.  
  
"Two girls, and a young boy. This won't be a challenge at all," the big one chuckled ready to draw his swords at any second.  
  
"You three, you are trespassing in our lands, surrender now, and we will grant a quick death," the thin one said and pointed his pike at them. Li looked at them with battle ready eyes, and his hand over the hilt of his sword.  
  
"Excuse me Mr." Sakura started nervously. "We're only passing through this valley, we won't stay for that long."  
  
"Silence girl!" the big one shouted, silencing Sakura in an instant. "You're lucky we don't kill all you now!" Li just scoffed.  
  
"I'd like to see you try, you fat-ass."  
  
"What was that!" the big growled, and raised his ax, but the thin stepped in front of him.  
  
"What do we have here, a smart mouth. I can see you have eyes ready for battle, I like that," he said as he looked over Li.  
  
"So just who in the hell are you guys?" Li asked.  
  
"We are the warriors of thunder!" they both shouted at the same time.  
  
"Kio!" the thin one shouted, and lighting flashed.  
  
"Beron!" the large on shouted, and thunder boomed behind him.  
  
"These guys remained me of villains in one of your mangas Sakura," Tomoyo whispered. Li looked over them, and saw that Kio was wearing red battle robes with a chest plate on top, and Beron had green robes along with a chest plate as well.  
  
"I don't care who you are, I'm not leaving here, just because two morons say so!" Li said. Kio just chuckled.  
  
"You have spunk kid I'll give you that, but no one disrespects us and lives to tell about it! On guard!" he shouted, and charged.  
  
"Shit, he fast!" Li mumbled, and quickly jumped, just narrowly missing Ki attack. The warrior froze when he heard a loud cry from above him, when he looked up he saw Beron with his ax coming down towards him. Li quickly caught the wide blade at its sides just barely keeping it above his head. Kio suddenly shot towards him from behind his pike ready to thrust through him. Li put his foot to Beron's chest and pushed off. The young boy flipped over Kio and landed on top of a cliff with grace.  
  
(Quick AN: They weren't floating in the air, they were falling.)  
  
"So this one knows how to fight, I'm surprised to meet someone with such skill at your age," Kio said.  
  
"Too bad you die here!!!" Beron shouted, and jumped towards Li. The young boy drew his sword, and blocked Beron's ax. Beron suddenly landed a good hit in Li's stomach with a strong knee. Li gasped for air as Kio came in from behind, and stabbed Li in his shoulder. The two warriors chuckled as they watched Li fall.  
  
"I would have gone for his heart, but it's getting too dark," Kio said. Li groaned as he got up clutching his arm.  
  
"You bastards aren't done with me yet," Li panted, and pulled out a talisman. "Element lighting!" The two warriors easily dodged the lighting blast and charged. Li put up his guard, but Beron came in with a strong swing from his ax. Li flew back because of the ax's power, and neared the edge of the cliff.  
  
"You think you have power over lighting think again!" Kio said from above him. "Lighting Javelin!" The thunder warrior threw his pike which was now pure lighting. The attack thrust through Li's shoulder sending lighting through his whole body, Li yelled out in pure pain, it felt as though his body was going to explode any minute. He stepped back and fell off the cliff, as he fell, the two jewels fell out from his pocket. Li landed with a loud thud in front of Sakura and Tomoyo.  
  
"Li!!" they shouted, and ran to his aid.  
  
"Tomoyo is he all right?" Sakura asked.  
  
"His pulse is fine, he's alive just knocked out," Tomoyo said. The thunder warriors jumped down from the cliff, and picked up the jewels.  
  
"Well what do we have here? A prize for our victory?" Kio said, as he put on the necklace of kamikaze.  
  
"These might be wroth something," Beron said, and jammed the Gem of Inferno in his axe. The two suddenly felt power flow through them, power they couldn't even begin to explain. When they opened their eyes they found themselves to be twenty times stronger than they were before.  
  
"Such power! I have never felt anything like this in my life!" Kio laughed.  
  
"Now we can finish the trespassers with ease, and have a large feast!" Beron chuckled, and readied his now green flaming ax.  
  
"Tomoyo let's get out of here!" Sakura said. "Help me carry Li."  
  
"What about the jewels?" Tomoyo asked as he put one of Li's arms on her shoulders.  
  
"We can worry about them later, now we have to run!" Sakura shouted, and they started running. The two warriors weren't too far behind them. Kio was firing strong lighting blasts at the cliffs trying burry the two girls, while Beron shot green fire balls at them. Sakura and Tomoyo weren't very fast since they both were carrying Li, but they managed to dodge most of the blasts.  
  
"What do we do now!?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura looked, and saw the sun nearly down, and it was getting darker, and darker every second.  
  
"We wait," she replied. In a matter of minutes, it completely dark, and the warriors could no longer spot the girls.  
  
"Damn it! I can't see a damn thing!" Beron growled.  
  
"Let's pull back for now, we have gotten wonderful gifts Beron we shall rule with even more power!" Kio said. Beron nodded, and with a flash of lighting the two were gone.  
  
"Tomoyo are you okay?" Sakura asked.  
  
"I'm fine Sakura, but what do we do now?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"I can feel a small cave, we should be safe there until morning." Sakura and Tomoyo laid Li down, and managed to make a small fire. The two of them sighed when they thought of their situation. Li was out cold, and there was no way the two of them could take on such monsters alone, especially since they had the jewels. Sakura sighed and pulled out her good luck charm, Kero.  
  
"You still carry that thing along Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"Yeah I think he brings me luck, and right now we need a lot of it, or maybe even a miracle," Sakura said, and squeezed the stuffed toy. Suddenly, Sakura and Tomoyo heard groaning, and muttering. They looked at Li, who was still out could, so who was making the sounds? All of a sudden Kero slipped out of Sakura hands, and started flying, and talking!  
  
"Damn! That girl has strength!" Kero muttered as he sat near the fire. When he looked at Li he shook his head. "Hate to know what happened to him."  
  
"Uh.....Kero?" Sakura asked with uncertainty. The stuffed animal jumped and turned around.  
  
"Who are you two?" he asked.  
  
"We should be asking you the same question," Sakura said.  
  
"I am Cerberus (sp?) Guardian beast of four out of the seven deadly jewels."  
  
AN: Well it looks like things have gotten a lot more interesting. The girls have met the guardian beast of the four jewels. But can he help them defeat the thunder warriors? And what will Li's reaction be when he finds out that both jewels are gone? And just what is this whole thing about? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Oh, and I was wondering why I got so few reviews for last chapter. I'm starting to think people aren't reading this fic because it isn't a romance/drama. I through the CCS section one day and saw practically all the fics are romances/dramas! So if that's the case please people open up to something different you may or may not like my fic, but please just read and review I want feedback since this is my first CCS story. Anyway, R&R please! See ya! 


	8. Clash in the Throne Room

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 8

"You're who?" Sakura and Tomoyo asked at the same time.

"I am Cerberus guardian beast of four out of the seven deadly jewels," Kero said for the third time.

"I seriously don't get how a little guy like you is a beast," Tomoyo said, and poked his stomach. "You're too cute."

"I am not cute! I am a guardian beast!!" Kero protested.

"So then why are so small?" Sakura asked, and picked him up.

"Because it looks like my powers are being suppressed," Kero replied.

"If you're supposed to be guarding the jewels why are you my stuffed animal?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I don't get either," Tomoyo said.

"I don't either. For the past ten years my memory has been getting worse. I can't even where the jewels originally were!" Kero sighed.

"Ten years ago? That's when my mom gave you to me."

"Weird I can't even remember that," Kero said.

"So you're telling me you can't remember what the jewels do when all seven are brought together?" Tomoyo asked. Kero shook his head.

"So much for getting information," Sakura sighed.

"Why would you want information about the jewels? Are you seeking them?" Kero asked as if he was ready to fight.

"No nothing like that, but our uh.....friend if you want to call him that, is," Sakura said.

"That guy over there?" Kero asked, and pointed to the unconscious Li. Kero flew over him, and whistled. "What wounds. Who did this to him?"

"These two guys, one of them had a double bladed pike, and other had this huge ax!" Tomoyo said. Kero's eyes widened.

"They wouldn't be called the Thunder Warriors would they?" he asked worriedly. The girls looked at each other, and nodded. Kero yelled and flew around in a circle. "We're doomed!!! We're doomed!!!!!!!" he yelled.

"Kero, Kero, calm down!" Sakura said trying to grab him. Tomoyo managed to grab his tail, and pull him down.

"Why are we doomed Kero?" she asked.

"Do you have any idea who the Thunder Warriors are?!" The girls shook their heads, Kero just sighed. "I should have known."

"Wait if your memory is going then how do you know them?" Sakura asked.

"Strange, the only thing I can't remember is the jewels. Everything else I can remember easily," Kero said as he rubbed his head in confusion. Suddenly the three of them heard a soft groan; they turned and saw Li slowly getting up.

"Uh...what the hell is going on?" he asked as he looked around.

"We managed to escape the Thunder Warriors, and they left," Tomoyo said.

"Where are the jewels?!" Li barked.

"Uh.....well....you see that's that the thing, the Thunder Warriors have them," Sakura said slowly, she could practically see Li's face become pure red.

"You idiots!!!!!!" he yelled. "How could let those two get the jewels?!!!!!! Can't you two do anything right?!!!!!!!"

"Not the encouraging type is he?" Kero whispered to Tomoyo.

"You should see him when he's really mad," Tomoyo replied.

"Hey kid, give them a break you really expect them to stand up to the Thunder Warriors alone?" Kero asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Li asked.

"Cerberus, Guardian Beast of four out of the seven deadly jewels," Kero said proudly. Li scoffed, and said,

"Ch, yeah right. Give me a break."

"I am you stupid kid!!!!"

"Who you calling kid you stuffed animal!"

"I am not a stuffed animal am a beast!"

"You must be one of those pussy beasts who only fight squirrels and rabbits!"

"Pussy beast! That's it kid I'm going to kill you!"

"How, I bet you could barely throw a punch with those wimpy arms of yours!" Li and Kero looked at each other with extremely cold glares, Sakura and Tomoyo meanwhile just sweatdropped in the background.

"Think we should break them apart?" Sakura asked.

"Nah, this is actually fun to watch," Tomoyo laughed. After four minutes, the two broke apart.

"Aw screw it, I have better things to do than to argue with a damn stuffed animal," Li said and grabbed his sword.

"Where you going?" Sakura asked.

"After the Thunder Warriors. Thanks to you two I have to get the jewels back," Li replied, and sheathed his sword.

"Hey it's not all our fault, you're the one who got defeated by them, and the jewels fell out of your pocket!" Sakura shot back.

"Don't put it on me, you two could have easily grabbed them, but no you had to run!"

"They had already put it when we realized what happened it was too dark make anything out!"

"Then your reaction time sucks! Besides it wasn't all that dark yet!"

"Sakura, Li stop this isn't the time to argue with each other!" Tomoyo said. Li and Sakura just huffed, and turned away from each other.

"Forget this shit, I'm going after those bastards," Li said and was about to got out the cave when Kero yelled,

"You'll die! Those Thunder Warriors are powerful!"

"No shit and I don't care. Those Thunder Warriors are mine," Li replied, and walked out the cave.

"That idiot!" Kero mumbled.

"Kero, what do you know about the Thunder Warriors?" Sakura asked.

"Are they strong demons or something?" Tomoyo wondered.

"No, they're very powerful thunder sorcerers, one of the best in the world. It's said that before they came this valley was a peaceful kingdom. The people were happy under the rule of their king, but when they came it started an all out war. The king tried so hard to keep his lands, but the Thunder Warriors were just too powerful! Eventually they killed the king, and destroyed all the up rises against them. They go completely unopposed."

"They sound really bad," Sakura said. Kero nodded.

"And now that they have your jewels they'll only get stronger! Your friend has to be crazy to go up against the two of them alone," Kero said.

"Well he is a determined guy," Tomoyo replied.

"Determined yes, but very foolish."

Li traveled through the dark and long valley following the magical energies he was sensing from the Thunder Warriors and the jewels. A cold and harsh wind blew as he got closer to where they were. He clutched shoulder and winced when he felt his wound aching again. He managed to stop the bleed with a piece of his cloak, but it was still aching.

'Damn wound, this most likely will affect my fighting. But I need those jewels,' he thought as walked. His eyes finally fell on a large tower overseeing a small village. The tower hardly any protection from guards or from any spells. At the top Li could sense the incredible power coming from the Thunder Warriors. He was about to head for the tower when an old hand grabbed his shoulder. Li turned and saw an old man behind him. His wrinkles seemed to have given no mercy to his body. His clothes were nothing but rags, and all over his body were scars and bruises.

"What do you want?" Li asked coldly.

"Please young man," the old man whispered. "If you value your life do not climb that tower. Many have tried but the Thunder Warriors just killed them with one blast. I do not want to see another young life taken by those devils, please do not climb that tower!"

"Thanks for the warning old man, but I'm not going to run from those bastards," Li said as he looked at the top of the tower.

"That's what my son said, and the Thunder Warriors killed him without trying!" Li scoffed, and walked towards the tower.

"You and your townspeople might be too sacred and weak to climb this tower, but I'm not." And with that Li started to climb the stairs that would lead him to the Thunder Warriors.

'Young People think they can do anything,' the old man thought.

Li without hesitation pushed opened the big doors that led to the throne room of the Thunder Warriors, who were eating. Li looked at them, at their long table with thousands of foods, and four girls in the corner with miserable looks on their faces. They had torn, and reveling clothing on. He could also see bruises on them along with cuts. The young man looked and saw the two jewels he was looking for. Kio was the first to notice Li.

"Well look who decided to show his ugly ass again," Kio chuckled as he tossed a half bitten chicken leg at the girls.

"This will be easier than last time, I can see the wound you gave him as yet to heal," Beron said as he slurped his soup.

"You bastards had your fun with me, but this time playtime's over," Li growled as he drew his sword.

"I shall take him Kio, you continue eating," Beron said and drew his ax that had the Gem of Inferno in it.

"Bring it on you fat-ass," Li smirked. Beron growled and attacked. Li quickly back flipped away as Beron swung his mighty ax towards him. When he was close enough, Li side kicked Beron in his chest, knocking him back. The large Thunder Warrior countered with a powerful, but slow slash towards Li who jumped back in time.

"Stop moving you insect," Beron growled.

"Not so powerful without your friend to help you? You and I both know you could barely beat me last time. Hell the only blow you landed on me was that knee to my stomach," Li said with a smirk, making Beron fume with rage.

"I'll show you weak!" Beron growled, and green fire covered his blade. "Take this!" Beron hurled the fire powered ax towards Li. The young fighter quickly ducked under the projectile, but in a flash received a powerful jab in his jaw making him fly backwards into the wall. Beron soon came in with a jab and hook combo, causing Li to sprawl over on the ground with bruises on his face. Beron raised his big foot ready to stop the young man when Li quickly rolled out of the way. He gasped when he saw lighting shoot out towards him from where Beron stomped. Li had no time to dodge so the attack hit him head on, making him take a knee. The big Thunder Warrior suddenly came in with a powerful uppercut knocking Li on his back. Beron wasn't through though, he picked up Li and started pummeling him with strong punches. Li managed to break out his hold, and step back.

'Even without the gem he's still powerful. And this is just the opening fight. I bet Kio is twice as powerful as he is,' Li thought as blood came down his chin. Beron grabbed his ax, and charged again. Li charged towards him as well, and when he was close enough, the fighter knocked Beron over with a jumping side kick. Li jumped in front of him, and raised his sword.

"Say goodnight jackass," he said with a smirk.

"Goodnight jackass," Beron smirked, and opened his mouth. A lighting blast suddenly knocked Li back saving Beron. The large Thunder Warrior grabbed Li's neck and threw him onto the table, knocking all the food over. Beron brought down his ax, but Li dodged and slashed his chest. The ax warrior stumbled for a second, and received a powerful roundhouse kick from Li. When Li landed, he pivoted on his right leg, and side kicked Beron into the wall. Once he got closer, Beron shot out two fire balls that knocked Li back, giving Beron the opening he needed. He attacked with a strong swing, that knocking Li's sword from his hands when he tried to block. Li jumped back when Beron came turned and swung again, but Beron fired a stream of fire that covered Li in fire. Beron smirked and walked towards the flame.

"Element, Water!!!!" Li shouted from the flames. A strong jet of water shot out from the flames, and put out the fire that came from the gem. Li suddenly leaped out from the fire and came down with a kick towards Beron's head. The large warrior jumped and slammed Li to the ground with a strong stomp to his stomach. Li coughed out blood when he felt the great weight on his body.

"Not so tough without that sword of yours huh!" Beron laughed, and wrapped his grand hands around Li's neck. The warrior choked when he felt air being cut off from his lungs. Beron laughed, and started to squeeze harder, Li looked around, and his sword too far away. Li could feel his lungs started to burn, everything started to darken, and he was losing feeling all around his body. Kio looked on with assuming. He chuckled and looked at the girls.

"I'm sure after this fight, Beron will be tired so girls, be prepared for a long and rough night," Kio said with a laugh. A look of anguish, and misery filled their faces as they looked down. Li brought up his head, and head butted Beron in his forehead, which loosened his grip. Before he could apply back the pressure Li kicked him in his groin, freeing him.

(Low I know, but anything goes in a fight.)

"You bastard!" Beron growled. Li ran towards his sword with Beron not too far behind. When he grabbed his sword, Li ran up a wall as Beron swung his ax avoid the strike. The warrior pushed off when he was right above the Thunder Warrior.

"Take this you bastard!" Li shouted, and threw his sword as he flipped over.

"Beron look behind you!" Kio shouted, but it was too late, in a flash, the sword struck Beron in his heart, killing him instantly. Li landed with grace, and looked at Beron with a smug look on his face. The girls looked relived, and one of them mouthed a thank you to Li, but he didn't pay attention. Kio on the other hand, had a look of pure hatred on his face. He clutched his pike as he stood up.

"You son of a bitch!" he shouted, and ran over to Beron's body. Li kept the smug look on his face as Kio looked over his fallen friend. "I will make you pay!" he growled, and grabbed the gem from Beron's ax. Li raised an eyebrow when he saw Kio clutch it. All a sudden, he threw it up in the air, and swallowed it! Li could sense Kio's power increase to unheard of levels! A visible, large dark aura covered Kio as his yellow eyes turned into blood red, his hair became white, and his nails became long powerful claws.

'Shit! He now holds the power of two deadly jewels, and all that negative power has made the jewels demonic! Kio has completely unlocked their evil! And yet he's so in control! This is bad!' Li thought when he felt the dark aura consume the whole tower.

"Now revenge shall be mine!!!!!!" Kio shouted in a low evil voice, and charged.

AN: Things have gone from bad to extremely worse! Kio now has the power of two deadly jewels! It was hard enough for Li to defeat one of the Thunder Warriors with one, but now he has to face the last Thunder Warrior who has both of them! Kio was the one who defeated Li last time, will he do it again? Can Li figure out a way to defeat the power-mad Kio? Will he get the jewels back? And why can't Kero remember anything about the jewels? You'll just have to read the chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels! Oh and thank you to all those who reviewed. Oh and ccsbrat, without reveling anything too big, the Clow Cards will be in this story, and that's all I'm saying you can't make me talk! Anyway, just thought I would answer you question real quick. Please if you can get other people to read this fic. Well that's all I have to say. See ya!


	9. The Thunder Fades

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 9

"Sakura are you sure about this?" Kero asked as Sakura slid down the hill.

"Yeah Sakura, you heard Kero the Thunder Warriors are dangerous," Tomoyo agreed.

"I know, but I've feeling something weird for the longest time. It feels like my stomach is empty, and full of this dark feeling. Every time I feel this way, some kind of demon suddenly shows its power," Sakura explained. "Think about it, I felt this way before Tuigo chased, and again when we went up against Siga. Now I'm feeling it even stronger than before. Something bad is happening."

"I can understand what you're sensing. You're obviously sensing their demonic energy," Kero nodded. "So if you can sense one the Thunder Warriors' energy from here, something bad must be happening!"

"If that's the case, Li might be in trouble!" Tomoyo said.

"We're going to help him," Sakura announced.

"We, when you we, that means you and Tomoyo right?" Kero asked nervously. Tomoyo suddenly grabbed his tail, and pulled down the hill.

"Nope, you're coming with us Kero," she said.

"I was afraid you were going to say that. I need to write my will," Kero sniffed. Tomoyo just chuckled, and said,

"Lead the way Sakura."

Li growled as he looked into the eyes of the new super powered Kio. The Thunder Warrior chuckled as he made his way towards Li.

"Do I scare you?" he asked as he readied his pike.

"Not in the least," Li replied, and in one motion he pulled his sword out of Beron.

"You refuse to wipe Beron's blood from you sword?" Kio asked become madder than before.

"Nah, because when I kill you, I'll have both your blood on my sword, I considerate it a souvenir for killing the two of you," Li said with a smirk.

"We'll see you kills who!!!!!" Kio shouted, and charged. Li managed to dodge his thrust, but just barely, but Kio followed up by striking Li with the wooden part of his pike. The warrior flew into the far wall blood coming down the side of his head already.

'Shit, he's faster than I thought,' thought as he got up with a groan. Once he was on his feet, Kio shot towards Li. In a flash he was in front of the warrior. Kio shot his pike forward, had Li not been able to sense his presence he would have been dead. He managed to avoid the attack with it just cutting his robes. Li managed to counter with a strong round kick to Kio's face. But an instant later he was on his back staring at the ceiling with Kio's fist outstretched.

"Surprised by my power? Beron could only dream of this kind of power," Kio said as he stood over him.

"Yeah well at least now he can dream for eternity," Li replied. Kio roared in rage, and stabbed Li through his shoulder. The Thunder Warrior jumped back when Li tried to counter with a slash.

"I could have ended your life right there, but a quick death is too good for you," Kio said coldly. Li didn't reply, he was too busy nursing his injured shoulder.

'Damn it! I'm surprised I'm not dead yet. This pain in unbearable! It feels like my entire arm in on fire!' Li winced when he tried to move it. When he looked up Kio shot towards him. Li tried to slash him, but he disappeared. An instant later Li was on the ground nursing his back.

"Are you surprised with my speed?" Kio asked with a dark smile. He had appeared behind Li, and struck his back with the wood part of his weapon.

"Not really," Li groaned as he got up.

"What's the matter are you pain? Get used to it!" Kio shouted and thrust again. Li managed to dodge, and counter with a thrust towards Kio's head. The Thunder Warrior blocked, and slashed Li across his face. He suddenly sent Li flying with a blow to his chin. Li landed on the table breaking it in half. Kio laughed when he heard Li's groans as he got up.

'His power is incredible! But I shouldn't be surprised, he does have the power of two jewels with him, not only that he has his natural power too,' Li thought. Kio chuckled as he walked towards Li.

"Get ready to feel the pain you gave Beron!" Li reached into his robes as Kio made his way towards him.

"Element, Lighting!" The lighting shot towards Kio, but they just bounced off of him! "Shit!" Li cursed. Kio on the other hand just laughed.

"Did you really expect lighting to hurt me. I'll show you real lighting!" Suddenly lighting shot out of his fingertips. Li yelled out in pain as the lighting surged through his body, when it was over he was on his hands and knees panting. Kio laughed as he watched him. Li grabbed his sword, and leaped in the air.

"Try this!!!" he shouted and brought down his sword. Kio just smirked, and easily blocked it.

"You fool," he said, and opened his mouth. Green fire blasted Li back into another wall. Kio rushed towards Li and tried another stab, but Li evaded, and managed to slash him across his chest. Kio turned and thrust forward again, this time Li managed to block, and countered with a strong sidekick. Kio recovered by flipping over, when he feet touched the cold hard slabs of the tower he shot forward with his pike ready to strike. Li raised his sword, and brought it down. The two weapons met with a loud CLANG!!!!

Both Kero, and Sakura froze all of a sudden.

"Sakura, Kero what is it?" Tomoyo asked them.

"That feeling is getting so much stronger," Sakura replied.

"Kio's energy has reached demonic levels," Kero growled.

"Is that such a big deal?" Tomoyo asked. Kero nodded.

"Normally sorcerers like the Thunder Warriors still wouldn't stand a chance against a fully trained demon. But the energy I'm sensing makes a trained demon look a child," Kero explained.

"If that's the case then Li's in big trouble," Sakura said.

"Can I go now, I really don't see any reason for me to be here," Kero begged. Tomoyo grabbed his tail again.

"Nah, it's fun to have you around Kero-chan," she replied.

"Besides you can find where the Thunder Warriors a lot easier than I can," Sakura added.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Kero groaned with tears coming down.

Li growled as he and Kio's weapons were locked together. Kio smirked, and opened his mouth. Li growled when he saw the green fire forming.

"Not this time!" he shouted, and dodged. "Take this, Element Water!" The water splashed all around Kio's body.

"Was that it?" Kio asked with a laugh. Li just smirked, and said,

"Hardly. Element, Lighting!" The lighting shot towards Kio, Li smirked knowing he would get fried. Kio kept his smile as the lighting got closer.

"I you like surprises boy because this one will be a big one," Kio said. When the lighting was an inch from him he simply blew and the attack was blown into the ceiling.

"What the hell!" Li shouted. The Thunder Warrior just laughed as he made his way towards him.

"I'd like to thank this necklace for my new glorious wind powers, and that green gem for my fire powers," Kio chuckled.

"You really are full of shit," Li replied. Kio smirked and charged. Li managed to parry his thrust, and counter with a knee to his stomach. Kio grunted, but managed a fast uppercut. While Li was airborne he back flipped, and double kicked Kio's chest knocking him back. The Thunder Warrior suddenly appeared behind Li and raised his blade.

"Say goodbye boy!" he laughed, and thrust towards Li's neck. The young boy managed to evade the thrust, and slashed Kio's chest. He suddenly followed up with another slash and a strong sidekick to his face. Kio suddenly grabbed his leg, and threw him into a corner. Li felt as though his spine was nearly broken in half. His entire lower body felt like it was fire, if he wasn't properly trained then his spine of would have broken in half.

"Is that all you got? You sounded so eager to kill me, are you going stop just because of one throw?" he asked his opponent as his slowly got up. He gripped his sword as Kio came closer.

"I will kill you, but I just want to make you suffer," he said with chuckle. "I must admit, Beron was weak, he depended too much on his physical power. I on the other hand I'm balanced, in both power and magic." Li slowly made his way towards the warrior.

"Why don't you can the bragging shit so we can get on with this," Li groaned.

"As you wish," Kio said, and suddenly attacked with a strong swing. Li quickly blocked and struck with a swift jab to his stomach. The Thunder Warrior just grunted, and sent Li flying with a front kick to his chin. Li flipped over in the air. When he felt the cold and hard wall he pushed off and attacked with a downward slash. Kio easily blocked his attack, and kneed his stomach. Li was suddenly struck to the ground with a hard hit to his chest.

'Damn he's powerful. In this whole fight so far I've only managed lucky blows and counters. A full attack is beyond me,' Li thought.

"Well boy, I believe it's time for me to show you one of my new attacks. I hope you like them," Kio said with a smirk. He suddenly raised hand towards the hole in the ceiling from Li's lighting attack. The sky suddenly darkened, and lighting streaked across the sky.

'This should be interesting,' Li thought.

"Hey look!" Sakura shouted, and pointed to the sky. Lighting started flashing in the sky, and thunder boomed loudly.

"Looks like a storm's coming," Tomoyo figured.

"This isn't any normal storm," Kero said.

"What do you mean Kero?" Sakura asked.

"I can sense high magic coming that lighting. One of the Thunder Warrior must be charging up an attack," he explained.

"Well then let's go!" Sakura said and they started up again. The three of them reached a small town with a large tower foreseeing it.

"Is this it?" Tomoyo asked. Kero nodded.

"The magic is strongest here," Kero replied.

"I told that boy not to go up there," an old man said from behind them. "Now another young life shall fade."

"Wait a boy passed through here?" Sakura asked. The old man nodded. "Come on you guys, he's probably in that tower!"

"Wait, I refuse to see another young life die. Do not go up there!" the old man protested.

"Sorry, but our uh...friend is up there and he might need help," Sakura replied. "Come guys."

"Young people," the old man sighed.

Lighting shot into the tower, and formed into a ball in Kio's hand. The Thunder Warrior laughed and pushed the ball into his pike.

"Take this, Lighting Thrust!!!" He suddenly shot forward and started attack with thrust at incredible speed. Li's eyes widened when he saw multiple pikes coming at him. He tried blocking the pikes, but there were too many. Suddenly one stabbed him in his leg. Li yelled out in pain when he felt the lighting shoot through his body.

'Shit, what an attack. It seemed flawless,' Li thought.

"Like that one, then how about this one!" Kio said. He raised one hand again, and fire formed in it. He suddenly threw his pike in the air, and raised his other hand. Another ball of lighting formed.

'What the hell is he doing?'

"Feel the power of lighting, fire, and wind combined!!" he shouted, and opened his mouth. Suddenly three blasts of lighting, wind and fire combined to form a powerful blast.

"Element, Wind!" a small shield formed around Li, and the blast hit. 'I can't hold this for long. This blast is too powerful.' The shield started to fade, and the blast just kept on getting stronger. Finally, the shield faded, and the blast hit its target.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was what rang through Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero's ears.

"What was that!" Sakura asked the guardian beast.

"I'd rather not find out," Kero replied. Tomoyo opened the door, and they gasped. The throne room looked as though a meteor hit. Smoke was rising every where, and there were small fires. The table was broken in half, and the roof was destroyed. Rocks and debris covered the floor. The body of Beron was covered with rock, and the four girls were huddled together in fear.

"Excuse me, but what happened?" Sakura asked one of them.

"A boy challenged the Thunder Warriors. Beron fought him first, and the boy killed him by throwing my sword into his chest," she answered.

"No way, that Li kid defeated one of the Thunder Warriors?!!!!" Kero shouted. The girl nodded.

"But Kio was in such a rage that he swallowed a green gem that gave him a major power boost."

"What happened to this place?" Tomoyo asked.

"I roosted it!" a voice laughed from behind them. It was Kio as he shot through a pile of rocks. "I will do what I did to your friend!" He started to charge up for another blast.

"Leave them alone!!" Li shouted from above, and side kicked Kio across his face, knocking him into a wall.

"How did you survive?!" Kio shouted.

"I have my ways," he replied.

"No matter I'll simply destroy you all!!!!!" Ki shouted and started charging up for an even stronger blast.

"You fool Kio, if you fire that blast it'll destroy us all!" Kero shouted.

"I don't care as long as I kill that kid!" Kio laughed mechanically.

"He's crazy!!!" Sakura shouted.

"Will you idiots get the hell outta here! Do you value you lives?!!!!" Li growled.

"We came to help you," Sakura said softly.

"I don't need your damn help!" he shouted.

"But Li...."

"It doesn't matter who gets out, because this blast will destroy not only this tower, but this entire town!!!!" Kio laughed.

'The jewels negative energies has completely taken over him. His mind is so unstable. But if I don't find a way to stop that blast will have a ticket straight to hell.'

"Get ready to die kids!!!!!!" Kio laughed, and readied to fire the blast.

'Shit! What can I do? Lighting, wind, and fire. The only element he doesn't have is water, and that won't do a thing! Damn it!' Li thought with a growl.

"Li don't give up!" Sakura said.

"Yeah fight fire with fire!" Tomoyo shouted. Li growled as he listened to them.

'They really have no idea what they're talking about. My magic won't do shit against him. My lighting attack just bounced off of him, and my water spell just splashed water on him!'

"Say goodbye!!!!!" Kio laughed and fired the blast. Li looked into the blast with a growl.

"We're done for!!!!!" Kero panicked.

"You could never beat me boy!!! No one can beat me!!!!" Kio laughed. Suddenly Li thought of something.

'If I can stop that blast, then the least I can do is make it weaker!' He suddenly jumped in the air, and hurled his sword towards the Kamikaze necklace.

"What's this!" The sword cut sliced the necklace off making the blast fade.

'Now that the blast is weaker the only thing it could destroy is this floor only!'

"Sakura I think we might want to get out of here!" Kero said nervously. Suddenly the blast hit, everything on the floor was destroyed. When the smoke cleared nothing was left, the throne room was no more. When Sakura and Tomoyo opened their eyes they were in a shield, and they were floating to the ground.

"What happened?" Tomoyo wondered. Sakura looked around, and saw Kero in the front.

"Kero? Did you make this shield?" she asked.

"Of course I did, I have some power in this form," Kero said with a triumphant laugh.

"But what happened to Li, and Kio?" Tomoyo wondered. Kero motioned for them to look at the tower. When they did, they suddenly saw two figures falling, but still fighting.

Li dodged two thrusts from Kio, and countered with a round kick to his head. The Thunder Warrior suddenly stabbed Li in his side. The young man took a hold of his pike, and the two started to wrestle over control over it. When Li saw the ground was getting closer, he flipped over so that Kio was on the bottom.

"What are you up to?" he asked with a growl.

"You'll see eventually," Li replied. When Kio suddenly realized what Li was doing, it was too late, and they landed with a loud CRASH!!!!!! While Kio was crying out in pain, Li raised his hand in the air, and grabbed his falling sword. Once he felt the rough edges of his hilt, he turned it over, and stabbed Kio in his stomach.

"You.....bastard." Were Kio's last words. His eyes rolled back into his head, and slowly closed.

"He.....he.....he did it?" Kero said in shock.

"That boy defeated the Thunder Warrior single handedly?" the old man said in awe.

"We're free," an old woman whispered. The whole town suddenly started to cheer, and laugh with joy. Li ignored them, and cut open Kio's stomach. He grabbed the jewel in a swift grab, and stood up.

"Let's go before they want a feast," he said and started to walk away.

"Come on Li would feast really be all that bad?" Sakura protested.

"We're tired, and hungry so feast would really help," Tomoyo said.

"Will you idiots shut up!" Li shouted.

'Who is that kid? He somehow managed to kill both Thunder Warriors by himself! Not only that but he lived through Kio's stabs. Those stabs are what people say kill all those who came after them. Is this kid even human?' Kero thought.

"Hurry up you stuffed animal."

"What did you say I'm Cerberus so you'd better show some respect!" Kero shouted as he flew after them.

"Respect a stuffed animal give me a break!"

"Oh that's it you're going down!"

"Ow!!! Let go of my finger you asshole!" Tomoyo and Sakura meanwhile just started to laugh in the back.

AN: Sorry if it was a little long, but I hope it was exciting for you the reader. It sure did take me a long time to figure out how Li was going to beat Kio. Anyway, what kind of trouble will Li, Sakura, Tomoyo, and their new friend Kero run into next? Will their next challenge be as hard as the Thunder Warriors? What kind of jewels are still out there? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Oh and thank you to all who reviewed. At least some people are interested in this story even if there isn't any real romance. Whatever, anyway SEE YA!!!!!!


	10. Shadow of the Past

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 10

"I have news from our spies," the blue haired figured reported to the leader.

"Well don't leave us in suspense, what did they say?" the spiky haired figure asked.

"They say that those nuisances now hold two of the jewels, and that they recently killed the Thunder Warriors." The thin figure just scoffed, and said,

"More like that Li kid killed them."

"So how long are we just going to sit here and let those brats find all the jewels?" the spiky haired one asked.

"As long as it takes I guess, until he decides to make a real move!" the blue haired figure said, and motioned to the white haired leader.

"Why don't we just wait until they find the rest, then attack them full force?" the thin one suggested. The white haired leader just stood up with a smirk.

"There's no fun in that," he said.

"Fun doesn't matter as long as we get what we want!" the thin figure protested.

"By the time they find the rest, they most likely would be too far away for an all out attack. Besides, just waiting gets boring."

"So what do you suggest we do?" the spiky haired one asked.

"Not we, more like me," the leader replied.

"You? What in the hell are you talking about?" the blue haired one asked.

"Simple, I'm just going to let myself be known by those kids. Especially Li," he said with a smirk. "Do you have their location?"

"Yes sir," all three replied.

"Good," the white haired one said as he got up. "This is a lot better than sitting on my ass waiting for you fools."

"Good luck sir," all three said at once as he walked past.

'I hope you'll remember,' he thought.

"Li can we stop in the next town, I'm starving," Sakura wined. Li just rolled his eyes.

"I thought you were past the wining shit," Li replied.

"Come we haven't had anything decent for three days! Besides, we're out of ramen!" Sakura complained.

"Then eat some berries or something," Li replied.

"We don't know if wild berries around here are poisonous, it's dangerous," Tomoyo protested.

"Yeah you want to kill us?" Kero shouted.

"Maybe," Li said simply. Sakura sighed and looked around. They were in a small plain with a bright sunny day shining down on them. The grass was about as tall as their ankles with occasional rocks around. The breeze was calm and cool. Along the side of the road were flowers, many different colored flowers.

'It's such a beautiful day,' Sakura thought with a sigh. Her chain of thought was suddenly broken when Tomoyo squealed in delight.

"What is it?" Kero asked.

"A town! That means shopping!" she said excitedly.

"There's no way in hell we're stopping just to shop for your shit," Li replied.

"Please Li," the girls begged, but the young man stayed strong.

"No."

"Please!!" they begged again.

"No." Sakura and Tomoyo sighed, and looked each other.

"Man he's tougher than Touya," Sakura whispered.

"Give him the face Sakura," Tomoyo told her. Sakura nodded, and looked Li.

"What now?" he asked. Her eyes suddenly grew bigger, and started water. She looked like she was going to cry any second.

"Please can we go," she whispered. Li looked into her eyes, and then answered.

"No." he said coldly. "Now fix your face so we can get going." Sakura and Tomoyo groaned.

"Can't believe the face didn't work on him," Sakura groaned.

"Well I'm not surprised, he doesn't seem like the type who breaks that easily," Tomoyo replied.

"Let's at least stop for some grub, I'm starving over here!" Kero chirped in. Li rolled his eyes, and groaned know they wouldn't shut up unless they got something to eat.

"Fine, but we're only stopping for food, none of that shopping shit," Li said with a scowl.

"Well at least it's something," Tomoyo whispered to Sakura as they walked to the town.

Unlike the last town they were in, this was filled with large houses, and larger stores. Markets were almost everywhere, and there were more people. Tomoyo and Sakura were just in awe as they saw the many stores selling silk gowns, and dresses. The jewelry they saw looked as though it used to belong to former kings. They stopped at a small restaurant on the corner.

"What should we have?" Sakura asked.

"Anything but ramen. I don't know about you but I wouldn't want anything I've eating for the past three weeks," Tomoyo replied.

"Whatever the hell you're ordering, it better not be past 16 gold," Li said coldly. Sakura pouted, but Kero growled.

"You cheap bum! All the good stuff is at least 19!!!!" Li just scoffed, and said,

"Too bad." Kero growled, a vein was nearly popping out of his head.

"Just what the hell is with the tight budget you cheapskate!"

"We need the money buy things we actually need, like water, or spare food," Li said simply.

"Don't worry Li I'll pay for our meal," Tomoyo said cheerfully as she pulled out a small pouch. "I have at least 200 gold in here." Kero's eyes widened.

"Tomoyo, why didn't you tell us you had so much money?" Sakura asked.

"And just how the hell did you get that much!!!!!" Kero said in shock.

"Her mom is the richest woman back home, and that's just Tomoyo's weekly allowance, you should see her monthly." Li rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Whatever it is you idiots are doing just be sure you're back here by sun down, that's when we're moving."

"I thought you said we were only stopping to eat," Sakura said, but Tomoyo poked her.

"Don't remind him!" she whispered.

"Whatever, just make sure you back here by sun down," he said and walked out.

"What's up with him?" Kero wondered.

'There's some kind of dark force in this town. I can feel it,' Li thought as he walked around. He quickly spun around when he thought he saw something. A shadowy figure quickly jumped deeper into the shadows. 'Just as I thought, Ninja-Youkai!'

Meanwhile in a dark alley the white haired figure was sitting on a box with his sword on his shoulder. His blue eyes looked at the Ninja-Youkai who was just returning.

"My lord, we have located the boy. He was with three others. Two girls, and a small yellow beast with wings."

"Cerberus," the figure said with a smirk.

"Should we attack him directly?" the Ninja asked.

"No let's make him come to us," the figure said as he stood up.

"How?"

"A little persuasion in order."

The two girls laughed as they walked through town. They had just bought new clothes, and jewelry. They were now heading for new shoes since their current ones were worn out.

"A girl should not walk around with shoes with the heel missing," Tomoyo said in disgust as she looked at her current shoes.

"I know, with all the running around we've been doing, I'm surprised our shoes don't have holes in them," Sakura said with a giggle. Kero on the other hand had a stern look on his face, and was looking around.

"Kero is something wrong?" Tomoyo asked the small beast.

"There's some kind of dark aura around here. Do sense it Sakura?" Kero asked. Sakura shook her head.

"I haven't felt anything all day," she replied.

"What's going on you two?" Tomoyo wondered. Suddenly a man walked towards them. His hands were in the pockets of his long black coat. On his black pants was a katana, and a small knife on the other side. His steps with his dark shoes were silent as he made his way towards them.

"You girls wouldn't happen to a young man named Li would you?" he asked in a low deep voice. Sakura nodded.

"Yes we know him. Are you a friend of his?" she wondered.

"Cerberus, you certainty have changed since I last saw you," he said ignoring Sakura's question. Kero's small eyes widened.

"You know me?" he said in shock.

"I don't get it what's going on!" Tomoyo wondered. The man turned around, and snapped his fingers.

"All shall be reveled soon," he said as started walking away. Suddenly Ninja-Youkai swooped down from the roofs, and grabbed them.

"Let me go, Help!!!!" Sakura screamed.

"Don't even bother. I've put spell on the town's people here. They can't hear you or see you," the man said. Sakura struggled to get her hands free. She managed to get her left hand free. Without wasting time, she blew away the ninjas holding Tomoyo and Kero. This caught the man's attention.

"Tomoyo, Kero get help! Get Li!" Sakura shouted, as she struggled against her own ninja.

"Tell him to meet me at that church!" he shouted to them, and pointed to a church at the outskirts of town.

"Just who are you anyway?" Sakura asked him. The man smirked, and said

"Viga." Sakura looked up and saw dark, and gloomy clouds rolling in.

Tomoyo, and Kero ran (or in Kero's case, flew) back to restaurant, and found Li waiting for them.

"Li, Li!!" Tomoyo called.

"Where have you been?!" Li scowled. "Where's the other one?"

"That's the thing, she's been kidnapped by a man named Viga!" Tomoyo said. Li's eyes widened.

'It can't be!' he thought in shock. He lowered his head, and his bangs covered his eyes. "Where is he?" he asked impatiently, and with anger in his voice.

"He said at the church on the outskirts of town," Tomoyo answered, surprised he said he, and not she.

"Stay here, you two better not follow me," Li said as he started to walk away.

"Why? I mean if you're going to rescue Sakura from this guy you're going to need all the help you can get," Kero chirped in.

"I'm not going to rescue her," Li replied not turning around.

"What? But if you aren't why are you going?" Tomoyo asked in a surprised tone.

"That's none of your business," Li growled, and walked away. Thunder suddenly boomed, and the rain started to fall.

(Insert Cowboy Bebop theme "In the Rain" here.)

Li walked as the rain fell. He didn't even feel the rain drops hit him as he walked. The name, Viga echoed through his ears over, and over again. His foot splashed in a puddle as he past a small shrine. His hands were in his pockets, and his eyes were distant, and emotionless as the church came in view. Old memories flashed in his head. He kept seeing a girl with blue hair, and bright green eyes. Her smile looked as though it could brighten the whole world. Against his will he kept on seeing the same girl, with the same smile. The girl's voice started to echo in his mind as well. The high, and cheerful voice started giggle as he saw the church's doors in view.

Sakura looked out the window with a Ninja behind her. Her hands were tied behind her back. A small smile crossed her face when she saw Li walking towards the church. She knew she would most likely get out of here soon. The ninja suddenly grabbed her, and started to lead her downstairs. She tried to struggle, but to no avail. She gasped when she saw other Ninja-Youkai set up all around the church ready to strike at any moment's notice.

Viga on the other hand was sitting on a box with his katana on his shoulder waiting. A small light shined through the stain glass window, and he looked like a fallen angel. He was seeing the same blue haired girl Li was seeing. He kept hearing the voice, kept on seeing the same smile. He smirked when he heard the doors open. He stood up and faced Li, who still had the emotionless stare in on his face. The two walked towards each other slowly. Their eyes met, and everything to them seemed to freeze.

(Theme ends)

"It's been a long time Viga, I would say it's good to see you, but I would be lying," Li said after a while. Viga smirked, and said

"You haven't changed one bit, Syaoran." Li's eyes widened a little, but he didn't say anything.

"That's not my name anymore, it's Li now," he said after a while.

"Li," Viga scoffed. "Does she haunt you Syaoran?"

"What?"

"It's a simple question, does she haunt you?"

"That's none of your damn business."

"Of course she does," Viga answered for him. "Why else would you change your name to something so simple?"

"What about you? You've changed a lot. I'm not even sure if I should call you a human."

"I am neither human nor demon."

"Then just what the hell are you?"

"I am a memory," Viga answered. "Are you here for the girl?"

"I could care-less about a pain in the ass like her."

"So then why are you here?"

"For you," Li answered simply. A ninja suddenly walked out of the shadows, with Sakura in his arms, and a sword to her head. In a flash Li had his sword out, and pointed to the Ninja-Youkai.

"Drop your sword, or the girl dies," the ninja said coldly. Li didn't move, he just stared at the ninja with the same emotionless stare. "I'm warning you!" The ninja put the sword closer to Sakura's temple. The girl tried to get free, but the ninja was too strong.

"Element Lighting!" Li suddenly shouted, and a blast of lighting hit the ninja in his head, killing him. Sakura was in awe, she had never seen Li move that fast before. The others suddenly dropped down from their positions and charged Li. Viga stepped back, and headed to the second floor. The young man slashed down every ninja that came his way as he followed Viga's movements. He quickly evaded a thrust from one, and in a flash his head rolled off his shoulders. Li without looking stabbed the ninja coming behind him, and kicked him away.

"Sakura!" a voice called from the doors. It was Tomoyo and Kero. Sakura smiled brightly when she saw them.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Well we figured if that moron didn't save you, we would," Kero said. Li growled as he stabbed another ninja through his chest. He really didn't care if they were here, just as long as they didn't get in his way. Li reached the stairs, but an arrow whizzed the through the air, and hit his leg. He looked up, and saw three Ninja Youkai firing arrows at him. Another arrow hit him in his ribs, and the other in his left shoulder. As they reloaded, Li suddenly threw his sword at one of them. The young man ran with such speed he was in front the ninja in a second. He quickly pulled the sword from his head, and slashed the one next to him. The third ninja drew his sword. In a flash his head was rolling down the stairs. When he turned the corner on the second level, Viga kicked his sword out of his hands.

"Come now Syaoran, do you really need a sword to beat me?" he asked with a smirk. Li growled, and got into a strong stance. "Yes, I'd like to see how you've improved."

"Well then try this!" Li shouted, and threw a one-two punch combo. Viga easily dodged Li's punches, and countered with a head butt. Li stepped back, but he quickly pivoted on his front foot, to throw a strong sidekick to Viga's chest. In a flash though, Viga was in front of him, and knocked him to the ground with a strong elbow.

"Your attacks are pitiful Syaoran," Viga said as Li slowly got up. The young man quickly swung his fist for a back fist attack, but the white haired fighter easily dodged. When Li was fully turned around he felt his neck being squeezed. Viga had his hand wrapped around his neck, and his other hand holding his fists.

"I'm not through yet," Li growled, and threw a fast front kick, Viga let go of his fist to block. The young man smirked and used a quick jab to his face to wiggle free. When the white haired man stepped back Li charged and pounded his face with rapid hooks. Viga was on his back when Li knocked him down with a strong side kick. The chestnut haired boy growled, and grabbed him by his coat. In a flash Li gasped, and spat out blood. When he looked down he saw that Viga and dug his nails into his stomach. He gasped even louder when the white haired fighter twisted his hand.

"That all you got?" he asked calmly as Li stepped back. The young man turned around and grabbed his sword. Viga smirked when he saw the sliver flash of the sword. Li gasped when he saw that Viga caught his sword. The dark man raised his blood filled hand, and licked his blood.

"You always were a weird one," Li said weakly. Viga suddenly grabbed him by his neck and dragged him to the window,

"You always were stubborn," he whispered, and threw Li out the window. Everything seemed to slow down as Li fell. He could see the colored glass fall with him. When he looked at one he saw the same girl that he saw as he was walking to the church. He then saw a young version of himself talking to her. Images of them talking, and laughing flashed in his mind. It all ended when a flash of light covered everything. When Li saw the ground coming closer, he whispered the name of the girl both he and Viga kept seeing.

"Shu Ling."

When Li opened his eyes he was in a room it looked like a girl's room. He looked to the side and saw the girl.

"You certainly took quite the fall," she giggled.

"It's not funny, it hurts like hell!" Li groaned, but kept on laughing.

"I'm sorry I can't help it."

When he really opened his eyes he was in a hospital room, three doctors were looking over him.

"Oh praise the heavens you're alive," the first doctor said.

"You've been in a coma for three days, it looked you weren't going to make it," a female doctor told him. The young man looked around him, and saw Sakura on a chair sleeping, Tomoyo was in a chair next to her sleep as well. The small yellow beast Kero was in Sakura's lap snoring his head off.

"We'll leave you to get some rest," the third doctor said, and they left the room. Li turned over, and dozed off too.

"Shu Ling," he whispered as a sole tear rolled down his cheek.

AN: I know this chapter was Cowboy Bebop-ish, but it is where I got the idea for this chapter. Plus I had the theme song download so I wanted to use it for something. Anyway, do Li and Viga have some sort of connection to one and another? Is Li his real name or is it Syaoran? Why did he change his name in the first place? Who is this Shu Ling girl both guys were seeing? You'll just have read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!


	11. A Tough Birthday

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 11

"So how was it?" the blue haired figure asked as Viga came back.

"Was it just as you planned?" the spiky haired one asked.

"Yes, he was pathetic, he barely laid a finger on me," Viga said as he sat on his throne.

"So what now?" the thin one asked.

"Do whatever you guys want. I've done my part," Viga replied. The three figures bowed, and walked out.

"I say we attack now while that kid is weakened," the spiked one suggested.

"I don't know, that boy is pretty strong," the thin one said.

"Bah, it's only one boy. How strong could he be?" the blue haired one said.

"I say we let the Ninja-Youkai do it. Why get our hands dirty? And once we have his two jewels we'll have three," the thin one suggested.

"You never did like to do your own work," the spiked figured argued.

"Well then what do you suggest? We do it ourselves?" he shot back.

"Will you boys stop your stupid fighting!" the blue haired one piped in.

"So what you propose?" the thin one asked.

"I'm all for your idea. That way we can concentrate on finding the other jewels."

"Looks like your outvoted," the thin figure said triumphantly. The spiky one just scoffed, and said,

"Whatever."

"Ready the Ninja-Youkai!" the blue haired figured shouted to a demon.

Li groaned when he saw the sunlight come through his window. He had been in bed for almost a week, and he couldn't stand it anymore. He understood he had taken major blows back at the church, he was even thrown out a window, but being stuck in bed for a week that was far worse than anything he took at the church.

"This is ridiculous," he said with a groan as he put his hand on his forehead. He looked at his hand, it was wrapped tightly in a cast, along with the one on his forehead. He looked over himself. He had casts on his chest, and stomach. His eyes fell on the door as it opened, it reveled the nurse that was taking care of him.

"So how are you feeling today?" she asked with a smile.

"Like shit," Li replied. She had long brown hair, and a yellow bow. She wore a green dress with a large stomach poking through, proving she was pregnant.

"That's been your answer for the past five days," she said as she put a tray in front of him. Li scoffed, and turned around. The door opened again, showing Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero in the door way.

"Can we come in Ms. Eva?" Sakura asked.

"But of course," Eva answered.

"What do you idiots want?" Li asked with a scowl. Sakura pouted.

"What's your problem? We can't visit a hurt friend?" she asked. Li rolled his eyes.

"Do what you want."

"Come now, is this really how you treat your friends?" Eva asked.

"What's it to you?" Li asked with a glare. "I should be outta here by tomorrow."

"My, aren't you sure of yourself," Tomoyo said.

"I think he's starting to hallucinate," Kero chuckled. Suddenly a pillow whizzed the through the air, and knocked the small beast into a wall.

"Shut up you poor excuse for a beast!" Li shouted. Kero shot towards him.

"You brat! If I was in my true form I'd really show you a thing or two!"

"Well your not. So you can't do a thing to me."

"Don't judge a book by its cover!" The others sweatdropped as they watched them.

"Is this how they always are?" Eva asked.

"You have no idea," Sakura replied with a sigh.

"Your friend sure is the uptight type," Eva said as she poured tea for Tomoyo, and Sakura that night. "I brought him some tea while he was sleeping, and as soon as I set down the tray he nearly choked me."

"Yeah he can be like that sometimes," Tomoyo said. "He's not a trusting person. Suddenly Eva started to clutch her stomach, and groaning in pain. Sakura, and Tomoyo rushed to her aid.

"Eva, are you alright?" Sakura asked.

"Do you want us to get a doctor?" Eva shook her head as they sat her down on a chair.

"I'm alright. It comes and goes. The doctor says the baby won't come for another three days," she replied.

"Um...if you don't mind me asking, but where's the father?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, ever since we met you, you've been on your own with your baby," Tomoyo said.

"Don't tell us he ran out on you." Eva shook her head, as she sipped some tea.

"No, not him. Shiro is a good man. Once he found out he was leaping with joy. Nothing could damage his sprit. If you saw him, you couldn't help but love him too. With his golden hair, blue eyes, and his long pointed ears. I loved those ears as soon as I saw them. He could have trimmed his nails though," Eva said with a sigh.

"Was he a demon?" Tomoyo asked. Eva nodded.

"A lot of people in town rejected our relationship. Saying that a human and demon would never work out. But no matter what happened we stayed with each other."

"What happened to him?" Sakura asked.

"About into the fourth month of my pregnancy, he went to find a suitable place for us to live. He said a place like this is no where to raise a half human, half demon child. He went into the mountains. But he never came back," Eva said with tears starting roll down her cheeks. "I don't want to believe that he's dead, but it's been five months now, and I haven't gotten a word from him. I always ask the people who come down the mountain if they have seen him, but no one has. No one in the village will help either, they would never help a woman carrying a half breed child. I try to stay happy, but every night I cry myself to sleep knowing my one true love is gone, and that my baby will grow up without knowing a father."

Sakura and Tomoyo couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was all by herself, no one wanted to help her because she was carrying a half breed child, not only that, but the person she loved the most was gone as well. This cheerful woman they've known was really just a sad, and lonely soon to be mother.

"I'm sorry we made you relive such memories," Sakura said as she handed her a handkerchief.

"It's all right, it was about time I talked to some one about this." Sakura and Tomoyo started comfort their friend, but unknown to them a shadow was watching them.

Li woke up the next morning with a yawn. He ran his fingers along the cast on his forehead. He started to slowly unwrap it, and felt his forehead. The wound was gone, there wasn't even a scar. When he unwrapped the one on his arm he found that it wasn't broken anymore.

"So Li how are you today?" Eva asked when she walked in. She had a surprise look on her face when she saw Li out of bed practicing his sword stances. "Are you sure you should be doing that?" Li sheathed his sword, and grabbed his cloak.

"I'm feeling a lot better so I'll just take my leave now," he said as he walked past her. When he went downstairs he saw Sakura Tomoyo, and Kero eating breakfast.

"Morning Li, I see your feeling a lot better," Sakura said.

"Come on we're leaving," Li said suddenly.

"Don't you think you rest for a little while longer?" Tomoyo asked.

"Don't argue with him. He's more stubborn than a mule, has the brains of one two," Kero said. Suddenly a rock hit Kero into a bowl of soup. "Help!!!! I can't swim!!!!!"

"Now," Li growled in his I'm-not-in-the-mood-to-hear-your-shit voice. Sakura and Tomoyo sighed and followed him. Tomoyo fished Kero out of the bowl of soup before he drowned.

"Aw, I really wanted see Eva's baby being born," Tomoyo groaned.

"Yeah, it would have been nice to see it."

"If you like seeing a lot of blood, and all that other shit," Li butted in. Suddenly Li froze, and looked at a rooftop.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah what's going on?" Kero wondered.

"Can't you morons sense it?" Li said with a scowl.

"Sense what?" Sakura asked. Kero froze too.

"I can feel it too. Sakura look at that rooftop," Kero instructed. Sakura did as she was told, and suddenly she felt a cold, empty feeling in her stomach.

"Oh no, not this feeling again!" she groaned. Li reached into his cloak, and drew his sword.

'Judging by small dark auras I'm sensing, I'm guessing Ninja-Youkai. There sure are a lot of them. Must be here thinking I'm still weak, they have to be here to the jewels,' Li thought. Suddenly a kunai whizzed through the air. Sakura, Li, and Kero spun around and saw it heading for Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo duck!" Sakura shouted. The dark haired girl did what she was told, and the kunai just missed her. Five suddenly shot towards them. In a flash, they were all knocked away with one swung from Li's sword.

"Let's go!" he shouted, and the four of them started to run.

Eva walked out of another patient's room. She suddenly clutched her stomach. The pain was far worse than before.

'Oh no, I must be going into labor!' she thought. She started to make her way to the doctor when a black figure crashed through the ceiling, and landed in front of her.

"Where is the one who carries the jewels?" the ninja asked as he drew his sword.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Eva replied, and turned to run, but ten ninjas blocked her path.

"Wrong answer!" the ninja shouted, and brought down his sword towards her stomach. Eva's eyes widened, and stepped back. Luckily for her, and the baby the sword just cut her dress, but she was in major trouble. The first ninja advanced towards her. Eva stepped back more, but then she remembered, Shiro had taught her some self-defense. She remembered his exact words.

"I won't always be there to protect you Eva. So I'm going to teach how to defend yourself so you won't always have to depend on me."

'Here it goes,' she thought. The ninja brought down his sword again, Eva grabbed his forearm, and managed to throw him over her shoulder. She turned and saw she threw him into the ten other ninjas behind her.

"Get her!" the first ninja ordered. Eva ran down the stairs as fast as she could.

"I have to get help," she said to her herself.

"Element Lighting!" the attacking ninjas were zapped and fell lifelessly to the ground. Sakura managed to blow some ninjas away, but only five or six at once.

"Well this is going well," Tomoyo said.

"No it isn't. There are tons more of these bastards," Li replied as he zapped away more ninjas. Suddenly thousands of Ninjas appeared out of no where, and blocked their current escape route.

"Not good!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Damn it!" Li growled, and turned around. "This way!" The four of them started to run the opposite way hoping to find another way out of town. The town's people had already retreated into their houses hoping these demons would leave soon.

"Help!!!!!!" they heard.

"That sounded like Eva!" Tomoyo said in concern. Sakura and Tomoyo ran in front and followed her voice. Eventually they found the sacred woman.

"Sakura, Tomoyo, thank goodness I though everyone was gone," Eva breathed with relief.

"Eva, are those ninja's after you to?" Sakura asked. Eva shook her head.

"But I'm afraid they'll kill me and the baby just for fun."

"You'd better stick with us then," Sakura said. When they were about run, Eva clutched her stomach. "Eva, are you going into labor?" The woman nodded.

"Shit, what a time to be born," Li groaned when he and Kero caught to them. The ninjas started to close in on them.

"Eva, is there any way out of here. There has to be a safe place to deliver the baby," Tomoyo said.

"There is a cave not too far from here," she answered.

"You aren't going to get very far," Sakura said. "Let us help you." Li suddenly walked up to her, stooped down.

"Get on my back," he said simply.

"What?"

"Damn it, don't ask questions just get on if you want live!" Eva nodded, and got on. Li wrapped his hands around her legs, and started to run. The small group dodged the attacks from the ninjas as they made their way out of town.

"How far is this cave?" Kero asked.

"It's over there!" Eva said, and pointed to a cave on top of a hill, but it was still pretty far away.

"Come on hurry!" Li shouted.

"You know I have never seen a boy your age carry a woman like me on your back and still be able to run. How old are you?"

"16," Li said after a while.

"Look we have company!" Kero shouted. They looked up and saw snake like demons in the air swooping down at them. (Like the ones from Inuyasha)

"Shit! They must really want the jewels now," Li growled. The demons started shoot out blasts of fire at the retreating group. Kero managed to protect them with a shield. The small beast managed to hold the shield until they reached the cave. Li set Eva down who was breathing heavily.

"Oh no, what do we do?!" Tomoyo asked.

"I don't know!" Sakura exclaimed. Li on the other hand had his sword drawn ready to fight.

"We obviously have to fight these demons."

"But what about Eva's baby? She's about to give birth!" Sakura argued.

"She obviously needs to live that long, and those damn demons aren't going to wait!"

"But with all that battling, the baby might get hurt!" Tomoyo piped in. Their argument ceased for a second when they heard Eva's cries of pain, and the growls of the demons.

"Once those demons get here, that baby won't stand a chance!" Li growled.

"Li, Eva needs all the help she can get, stop being so selfish!" Sakura said.

"I'm not being selfish!" Li shot back. Suddenly Eva lightly grabbed Li, and made him sit back down.

"Please, please listen all of you. I've watched you four, and I've seen how mismatched you are, and how much you argue. I might not be able to stop you, but I'm asking you just this once, to work together. Feed off of each other's strengths, and help each other through this. Please. They saw if there is happiness, and contempt during a birth, it'll go much easier. And the baby will led a happy life. I'm asking you, for my sake, and my baby's, just work together." Li groaned, and looked at Sakura and Tomoyo. He rolled his eyes, and looked at Kero.

"Hey stuffed animal, make yourself useful. Catch!" he said, and threw the two jewels at him.

"What do you want me do with these?" Kero asked confused.

"Lead them away from here, you idiot! And they better not catch your, or I'll kick your ass far worse than those damn demons. Now get going!" Kero nodded, and flew out as fast as he could.

"Thank you Li," Eva whispered. Li rolled his eyes, and used a shield spell to protect them.

"I'm not sure how long that shield will last so we'd better deliver this baby fast!" He held Eva's left hand, while Sakura held the other one, and Tomoyo watched to see if the baby was coming yet. Tomoyo suddenly screamed.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Water, lots of water!" she gasped.

"My water's breaking. The baby is coming soon," Eva said, and suddenly cried out in pain.

"Come on Eva breath, and push!" Sakura encouraged. Eva took a deep a breath, and pushed, but according to Tomoyo it wasn't enough. "Just a couple more, Eva, you can do it!" Eva squeezed Li and Sakura's hands and pushed again.

"I can see the head!" Tomoyo said excitedly.

"Tomoyo, grab it and pull lightly," Eva instructed. Tomoyo nodded, and Eva pushed one more time.

"Just one more!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Put all your energy in one last push," Li said. They all looked at him with a little surprise. Eva nodded, and pushed one last time, putting everything she had into it. Suddenly a scream filled the cave. The women all smiled when they saw Tomoyo holding the newborn half breed.

"It's a girl," Tomoyo whispered, and handed the still screaming baby to her mother.

"Here," Li said, and handed her his cloak. Eva smiled, and wrapped the baby in his cloak.

"Would you like to cut the cord Li?" she asked. Li drew his sword, and handed it to Sakura.

"You do it."

"It's tradition for the man to do it, and since you're the only male here...." Sakura said. Li rolled his eyes, and in one slash the cord was gone.

"What are you going to call her?" Tomoyo asked.

"Shiva," Eva whispered. The little baby had her father's ears, and she had short claws. She had Eva's nose, and she was pretty sure her baby had her eyes. Suddenly Kero was knocked into the cave wall.

"What I miss?" he asked dizzily. Li stepped outside and saw all the demons heading their way.

"Everyone step back," Li insurrected. He closed his eyes and raised his index finger, middle, and thumb as the demons got closer. "Force, know my plight. Release the light, LIGHTING!!!!!!" Suddenly lighting started to rain down from the sky killing all the approaching demons in one blast. The remains of the demons covered the area, and smoke rose from the pieces.

"Wow," Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eva said in awe.

"Well they won't be bother us anymore."

At dusk, despite Eva's offer the gang decided to head out.

"Thank you all, for everything. You helped me in more way than you will ever know," she said.

"No problem!" Sakura replied with a smile. "Bye little Shiva."

"If we ever see Shiro in our travels we'll make sure he comes back to you," Tomoyo said.

"Thank you."

"Do we have to go? This kid likes me!" Kero complained.

"I don't give a damn, now let's go you crappy stuffed animal," Li growled, and grabbed Kero.

"Say bye-bye to the nice people Shiva," Eva said to her baby. Shiva outstretched her small arms and started babbling in baby talk.

"Bye little Shiva, hope you grow-up big and strong!" Sakura shouted as they left.

"Good luck on your travels!" Eva shouted as she waved.

"Can we just go!" Li growled.

"Oh shut up!" Kero shouted, and bit Li's finger.

"Ow! Okay that's it, you are dead!"

"ACK!!! Let go of my neck!!!"

AN: Oh brother what a mismatched group. Well at least they managed to work together this time. I hope you liked this chapter I made sure it was nice and long. You guys seem to like long chapters. I've noticed that when I write a new chapter it longer than my last one. This is officially my longest chapter. Well whatever. I actually got this idea from an anime called Vandread. That is a funny anime! If you've seen it then you might have seen the episode where I got the idea. Oh and sorry if this chapter didn't explain who Shu Ling was, I didn't plan for it to anyway. Will you ever find out who Shu Ling is? Maybe you will, maybe you won't. You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels to find out. See ya!


	12. Defender

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 12

"Ah I just love a bright warm day!" Sakura laughed as she and Tomoyo walked through the streets of a town.

"And shopping only makes the day even better!" Tomoyo added as they looked at their many bags. "Too bad Li isn't here to help us carry all this."

"He would probably just throw them off to the side somewhere," Sakura joked.

"So what's next?" Sakura thought, then smiled.

"How about some new dresses!"

"Why stop at dresses, how about some skirts too!"

"All right!" Sakura said excitedly, suddenly a thought entered her mind. "Tomoyo weren't we supposed to do something?"

"I don't recall why?" Sakura's eyes widened, and she pulled out a small piece of paper that had a list of supplies Li had written. "Oh no, now I remember! Li asked us (more like ordered) to get these supplies!"

"We can't get them now, we're almost out of money!" Tomoyo gasped.

"He's going to kill us," Sakura groaned. The two girls sighed. Suddenly the wind blew a paper to Tomoyo's leg. The dark haired girl picked it up and gasped.

"Sakura I think this is the answer to our problem!"

Li was back in their rented hotel room, on the couch taking a quick nap. His sword and his cloak were laid in the corner along with a knocked out Kero. He started to toss and turn when a dream entered his mind.

Li's dream

Li was in a dark void with a cold sharp wind blowing everywhere around him. He could barely see a thing, but a bright light shined in front of him. The young man rushed towards the light, but faces kept on flashing in front of him. A woman with dark long hair, and an expression like his was looking over him.

"Mother?" he said in shock. Suddenly more faces flashed around him. One was with four girls that looked similar to him. "My sisters?"

"Syaoran," a cold voice whispered from behind him.

"Viga," Li growled, and whipped out his sword. He spun ready to slice the white haired man's head off, but he stopped when saw that same girl that he saw when he was heading to the church.

"Hey Syaoran," she said cheerfully.

"Shu Ling," he whispered. All theses figures surrounded him whispering his name over and over again. The light suddenly flashed and covered everything.

End

Li's eyes snapped opened, and he scanned the room.

"Just a dream," he whispered. His head turned when heard the door open. He saw Sakura and Tomoyo with tons of bags with clothes, jewelry, and shoes, but none of the supplies he told them to get.

"Hey Li," Sakura greeted.

"Where the supplies?!" he nearly shouted.

'And here I thought we could hide that from him,' Tomoyo thought.

"Well where are they. Don't tell you morons spent it all on that shit!" When the two girls didn't answer Li faced reddened. "YOU MORONS!!!!!!!!"

"Wait, Li don't blow a fuse yet," Tomoyo said. "This'll solve all our money problems." She held up the paper she picked up, it said:

**Bodyguards Needed**

**Requirements: Good sword skills, speed, precision, and if possible magic**

**Pay 2300 gold and an extra 900 if criminal is caught by Bodyguard.**

**If interested please report to the Kuro residence.**

**Mr. Kuro**

When Li was done reading he rolled his eyes, and scoffed.

"Please body guarding? Give me a break." Tomoyo and Sakura pouted.

"Come on Li it's the only way we can get some money," Tomoyo argued.

"Plus this is right up your alley. You should be able to do this job easily," Sakura added.

"Even if it is, I'm still not doing it," Li said, and sat down on the couch.

"Why are you so stubborn!" Sakura nearly shouted.

"Why don't you want to?" Tomoyo asked.

"Because half the time it's always either some stupid old rich guy or some stupid girl who's always in trouble. It's so annoying. I don't give a damn if the pay is good. I'm not going to protect some annoying rich girl."

"So I'm guessing you've done this before?" Tomoyo figured.

"No shit Sherlock. And I hated everyone, even when I did do the damn job, those rich bastards always found a way to weasel out of paying me." Sakura and Tomoyo nodded at each, and suddenly grabbed Li.

"Sorry Li, we need the money," Sakura said as she and Tomoyo to drag him out of the room.

"Let me go!!!" Li growled, and struggled. "I'm not doing it you hear me!!!!!"

After several hours of dragging, stomping, pulling, and asking for directions the group soon found themselves at the large Kuro mansion. It was a four story building with balconies on the fourth floor. A gate opened as they walked towards the mansion. Statues of crouching lions were on the sides of the front door. When they dragged Li in, there were several sofas around a large fire place with a painting of an old man over it. Suits of armor were almost in every corner. Two sets of spiral stairs were on the far end along with more paintings along the wall.

"Nice place," Sakura said.

"I'd love to live in a place like this!" Kero exclaimed. Tomoyo had picked him up right before they left.

"Whatever, I'm outta here," Li announced, and turned around. Before Sakura and Tomoyo could grab him, a loud yell came from the ceiling. A man armed with an axe jumped down with his axe heading towards Li.

"Watch out!" Tomoyo shouted. Before the axe was brought down, the blade was sliced off. The man was in shock, but that didn't last long since Li gave him a swift kick to his head knocking him to the floor. The man started to panic when Li placed his sword in front of his throat.

"What's this all about?" he asked. "You'd better start talking while you can."

"You're perfect," the old man said. Li raised an eye brow and push his sword closer to his throat.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Daddy!" a voice shouted from the stairway. A girl with long blonde hair, and blue eyes rushed downstairs wearing a bright red skirt, and a blue top. "Please forgive my father."

"Will someone please tell me just what the hell is going on!?!!" Li shouted.

"No need to shout young man, come and sit," the old man said.

"In case you don't know I am Mr. Kuro," the old man introduced when they sat down. "I own a whole half of this town."

"You must filthy stinking rich then!" Kero said excitedly, but Li pounded him into the floor.

"Control yourself," he said sternly.

"This is my daughter Cli."

"Please excuse my father," she said with a bow.

"What's with the body guarding job?" Tomoyo asked.

"Well about four months ago when I finished buying another pat of the city, Cli was suddenly attacked. It was dark so she did not get a good look at them. I wasn't worried then, but then while she was walking home, a large rock almost fell on her. Even two weeks after that, she was nearly electrocuted when she was about to take a bath. Of course I have called the authorities, but until the ones responsible are caught I fear for her safety."

"My dad attacked you, because all the ones before you could barely fight at all, so he needed to be sure," Cli explained.

"As I said before, you are perfect boy, so will you do it?" Mr. Kuro asked. Li growled, but finally answered.

"Fine, but once I do this old man you'd better pay me the money, or else I won't hesitate to slice off your damn head," Li said coldly. Mr. Kuro and Cli sweatdropped when they heard this.

"Of course I will!"

"Hey what can we do?" Tomoyo asked.

"I know we can help cook the meals," Sakura suggested.

"Yes that would be fine," Mr. Kuro agreed. "Now I hope you four will become here, there is no telling how long you'll be here, please excuse me."

"Hold on, will I have to watch her 24/7 or do I just have watch her when she goes out?" Li asked.

"I would appreciate it if you had your eye on her 24/7," Mr. Kuro answered as he walked away. Li groaned, and smacked his forehead.

"Shit, what have I gotten myself into?"

Li sighed as he followed Cli to her room she said was going to sleep, and he had to stand outside her door all night.

'Body guarding sucks,' he thought as he followed her.

"I hope I'm not putting you through too much trouble," she said.

"Forget it," Li said simply. "Do you have any idea who would want you dead?" He was trying to get as much information as he could, the less time he had to spend here the better.

"Not at all. I suspect it maybe people who don't appreciate my father buying their land, but he does it all the time this is the only time we've had this kind of problem."

'If this is the only time, it could mean there's something valuable in that part of the town, but what? Gold? Nah, gold isn't rare around here. So what could it be?' Li thought.

"Have you ever gotten a good look at your attackers?"

"No, it was dark that night, the only thing I could see was their red eyes," the girl replied.

'Red eyes? Could be demons are after her? But why? Sure she maybe rich, but demons don't care about those things. Is it possible that some one hired them, but why, and who? Ah, this whole thing is giving a damn headache!' When they reached her room, Cli turned and bowed to Li.

"Good night Mr. Li," she said, and walked in. Li slid down and crouched down next to her door. He placed his sword over his shoulders and his eyes slowly closed. Unknown to Li however, pair of red eyes were watching him from the window.

In the dead of the night a black figure slowly climbed up the Kuro household. From far away no one would be able to see him; even up close in the darkness you would not be able to see this assassin until it was too late. His long sharp claws made him perfect for scaling large houses like this one. His red eyes were fixed on the window that led into Cli's bedroom. A sword was on his back along with a set of knives, and a rope. A mask covered everything but his dark red eyes. The assassin smirked under the mask as he came closer to the window. His claws clicked as they slipped through the small spaces in-between the bricks. When he was in an arm's reach of the window, he made a small control jumped, and grabbed the windowsill. He quickly pulled himself up, and looked at the young sleeping woman under him. One hand slowly drew his katana while the other slowly pushed open the window. The window made a small creak, but the girl did not stir. The assassin smirked, and pointed his sword towards her neck. He was about to bring it down when the girl suddenly sneezed, but soon after the sneeze she opened her eyes and screamed when she saw the assassin.

"Help!!!!!!!" she screamed as he jumped out of bed. The assassin leaped from the windowsill towards her, but a suddenly streak from the door kicked him into her bed.

"Don't even think about it," Li said calmly. The ninja charged and in a flash brought down his sword, but all he cut was Li's cloak.

"What!?"

"Up here you moron!" When the ninja looked up he was knocked to the ground by a swift kick. The young man landed with grace, and looked to wards Cli. "You okay?" Cli looked deep into his amber eyes, and blushed.

"I am now," she said slowly. Li rolled eyes and turned towards the ninja. The door opened, and Mr. Kuro, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero were in the door way.

"What's with all the screaming?" Kero asked sleepily.

"That," the blond haired girl exclaimed, and pointed to the knocked out ninja.

"Oh Cli are you alright?" her father asked, the girl nodded.

"Thanks to Mr. Li." Tomoyo looked at her, and saw Cli was blushing.

'Oh, what's this? Cli has a crush on Li I see. This whole ordeal has just gotten interesting,' she thought. The amber eyed boy grabbed the ninja, and brought him to eye level.

"Okay tell me who are you? Who sent you?" he yelled.

"I'm not telling you shit," the ninja replied.

"Wrong answer!" Li shouted, and jabbed his face. "I'll ask you again who are you?"

"You expect to make me talk just because of some punches?" the ninja said cockily.

"Give it up kid, he's not going to tell you anything," Kero told Li. The young man let him go, but in a flash drew his sword.

"Now unless you want your head, and every other body part you have to slide down the wall I suggest you tell me everything," he threatened coldly.

"Ha, you wouldn't do that!" the ninja laughed, but was soon silenced when Li brought down his sword. "Okay, okay I'll you everything!" the assassin panicked when Li stopped an inch from his head.

"Wow he's charismatic," Sakura chuckled.

"Now tell me who are you working for?"

"I'm working for...." But the ninja didn't finish because something flew through the window and hit his neck killing him. Everyone gasped when they saw the ninja fall lifelessly to the ground.

"What was that?" Mr. Kuro asked in shock. Li walked towards the body and pulled out a dart.

"A toxic dart," he said. He suddenly sniffed it, and threw it out the window. "It's demonic poison, Green Mist, kills on impact."

"How did you know that?" Sakura asked. Li just scoffed.

"When you've killed as many demons as I have you know just about everything about them," he said simply as he walked out.

'He's so cool,' Cli thought.

The next morning Li was in the living room practicing his sword techniques. The sliver of his sword flashed around the room as he practiced. He sliced through the air with a downward attack, and then sliced his imaginary opponent in half when he spun. To the normal eye he was so fast he was a blur, but to the trained eye he was slow. Practicing with sword always helped him think.

'Who could of sent that ninja? Why would they try to kill Kuro's daughter, and not him himself? And who would kill their own assassin? Whoever is behind this must not tolerate failure,' the young man was so deep in his thoughts he didn't realize he had company. Cli watched in awe as she watched Li move, he looked so focused and fluid, it was like he was dancing.

"What do you want?" the young man asked as he sheathed his sword. Cli was shocked she was positive he wouldn't see her.

"Uh.....well.....I was wondering....um..." she stuttered.

"Well?" he asked losing his patience.

"Well I'm d-dancing in the festival tonight, and I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come," she finally said. Li scoffed.

"Of course I'm coming, I'm your bodyguard remember I have to go wherever you go, even if I don't want to, and I really don't want to," he relied coldly, and walked away. Cli sighed as she watched him; she just couldn't stop blushing when she watched him. Meanwhile, watching from the corner were Sakura, Kero and Tomoyo.

"See I told you she had a crush on him," Tomoyo beamed.

"It's one sided obviously," Sakura pointed out.

"But still this'll be quite interesting wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, maybe this could be a little fun," Sakura giggled.

"How do you expect that cold guy to fall for that girl?" Kero asked.

"I don't know, but it'll be fun to watch!" Tomoyo giggled.

That night Li, Cli, Sakura, and Tomoyo all headed out to the festival, Mr. Kuro decided to stay back, he had business matters he couldn't ignore. The festival was bright and colorful despite the dark night. Torches were set up along the streets of the town to guide the people and possible spirits to the festival. Cli was dressed in a blue kimono with green flowers around it. Her hair was in a neat bun as she ran around the festival looking at the many souvenirs. Sakura and Tomoyo weren't too far behind her, looking at the jewelry, and other items that were being sold. They were in a two kimonos that Cli let them borrow. Sakura wore pink, and Tomoyo wore a purple one. Li was in his normal clothes with his sword hidden underneath; he stayed in the far back not really paying attention to what was going on around him. He was too busy cursing at himself for taking on such a stupid job.

"Oh this'll look so cute on me, what do you guys think?" Tomoyo asked as she held up a necklace.

"Oh, yes it would Tomoyo!" Cli agreed.

"She's right you'd look great!" Sakura said.

"Hey Kero-chan I found you this cute ribbon," Cli said to Kero as he flew past.

"No thanks I'm not a ribbons person," Kero answered. Tomoyo suddenly pulled him down with a smile.

"Nonsense Kero-chan, at least try it on," she giggled. Tomoyo managed to hold him long enough for Cli to put on the ribbon.

"So what do you think?" she asked.

"I have to admit I look kind of good. What else do you guys have?" Kero asked which caused the girls to laugh. Sakura looked in confusion when she saw people start to head to a stage.

"Hey Cli what's going on?" she asked.

"Oh the Bellflower dance is about to start," Cli answered excitedly.

"What's that?" Sakura and Tomoyo asked at the same time.

"It's the main dance of the festival. Bellflowers grow all the around this place, some people say it's because the Bellflower maiden has blessed us with her presence. They say it's because of her that demons haven't come here in over 50 years. So how else could we show our appreciation than to give her a dance," Cli explained as they made their way to the stage.

"Li aren't you coming?" Sakura asked.

"I hate dances," he said simply, and walked away. Sakura shrugged and joined her friends near the stage. The music soon started, and a woman dressed in red slowly came out from the curtain. She slowly picked up the fan on the ground and opened it.

"I've always wanted to be in this dance," Cli sighed.

"When's your dance?" Tomoyo asked.

"After this one, I better go get ready," the girl said, and went back stage. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero watched the rest of the dance, while Li started to look around. As the girls watched the dance, Sakura suddenly got a cold a feeling in her stomach. Everything slowed down to her, but only Li seemed to move at normal speed.

"Sakura what's wrong?" Tomoyo slowly asked. Sakura looked to the stage as the dance started to end. Behind the curtain was Cli ready to go on as the soon as the dance ended, but behind her was a man with a sword at his side. Sakura eye's widened when she saw his eyes flash red when he drew his sword. She quickly turned to Li who looked like he felt to. He jumped towards the stage, while Sakura quickly shot a blast of wind, blowing the sword away.

"What's going on?" Cli asked no one. She suddenly saw Li fly through air, and kick the man behind into the wall. "Mr. Li what in the world is happing!" Li ignored her and went towards the fallen assassin.

"All right spill it! Who sent you?!" Li growled. The assassin started to laugh.

"You are a fool!"

"What do you mean?" Li asked, at this Tomoyo, Sakura and Kero made it to the stage.

"You think our only priory is that stupid girl? HA!! Even as we speak my comrades have set the Kuro household to explode!!!!" the assassin laughed.

"Oh no! Daddy!" Cli shouted, and ran as fast she could off stage. The girl pushed her way through the crowd trying to get out of the festival area.

"Run as fast as you like little girl you won't make it!!!!" the killer laughed. In a flash, the assassin was silenced when Li thrust his sword through his heart.

"We have to go help her!" Sakura cried, and she and Tomoyo followed after Cli. Li took a look at the dead body before he followed the others.

Meanwhile outside of the Kuro household, ten assassins were sitting out on the front lawn of the house.

"All right are we ready?" the leader asked, the others replied with a grunts and nods. "Excellent." The leader struck a match, and lit a string that led to the basement which was full of explosives.

"I hope Mr. Kuro likes fireworks!" an assassin laughed. Inside of the house, Mr. Kuro turned on a light to a read a book.

BOOM!!!!!!!!

AN: Another long chapter, I hope you guys are happy it took me forever to finish this. Anyway, did Mr. Kuro survive the explosion? Who is behind all this? And what do they want? Be sure to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Man this chapter was long, like I said last chapter with every new chapter, they get longer. Ah who cares as you guys like it right? Well whatever, just read the next chapter okay? See ya!


	13. A Forlorn Day

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 13

Sakura, Tomoyo, Kero, and Cli all froze when they heard the loud blast of the explosion. The ground shook for an instant, and smoke rose from the remains of the Kuro household. When they reached where the house used to stand, Cli fell to her knees and started to cry.

"Daddy," she whispered. "DADDY!!!!!!!"

"I'm so sorry Cli," Sakura whispered.

"Damn, this must have one hell of an explosion!" Kero said as he flew over the wreckage.

"Kero!" Tomoyo hissed, and smacked him. "This is no time for that!" Li stayed quiet and surveyed the damage.

'That's weird, after such an explosion there should at least some trace of Mr. Kuro, but there isn't. No blood, no piece of his clothes, nothing,' he thought. 'Is it possible that he made it out?'

"What are you going to do now?" Tomoyo asked sadly.

"I don't know," Cli whispered as her tears continued to fall. "Daddy was all I had left, my mother was murdered when I was young, and all my other relatives live too far away."

"You have to live somewhere," Sakura said.

"You could always stay with us," Tomoyo suggested. Cli nodded. Li looked through the rubble; he really had no idea what he was looking for, but his search ended when a white pearl like object caught his eye. He pushed through the rocks, and grabbed it.

"Hey Cli, what the hell is this?" he asked in a more demanding tone.

"It's a....Forlorn Pearl. They're used for sad occasions, even though they're rare Daddy managed to find a mine of those things here. He immediately bought, and did his best to get as many as he could for mom's funeral," Cli sniffed.

'Is it possible that this whole mess is because of this thing?' Li thought as he looked over the pearl.

"Come on we'd better get back," Sakura said with a sigh. Li put the pearl in his pocket, but as he walked he noticed a dark figure on one of the rooftops. He decided to let go since it probably was nothing.

The next morning, Cli literally had to drag herself to the sheriff's office with the others following her.

"I've never seen anyone that depressed," Tomoyo whispered sadly. Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, and it's not like I can tell her to cheer up. I mean I know I would be like that if my dad died in an explosion."

"So what the hell are we doing here?" Kero asked them.

"Cli said she had to report this, along with the other attack last night, she hopes the sheriff will be able to do something," Tomoyo answered. Sakura turned around and saw Li still studying the pearl.

"How long are you going to stare at that thing?" she asked. Li scoffed.

"Moron, there's obviously some kind of clue with this thing, don't you think at all?" Sakura pouted. Li rolled his eyes as they entered the sheriff's office.

"Why if it isn't Ms. Kuro, what can I do for you ma'am?" he asked in a friendly tone. The girl started shake, and tears started to roll down her cheeks. The smile on the sheriff's face started to fade. Li groaned knowing this would probably take forever so he stepped up.

"Her father died when her house exploded. Don't ask me who did because I have yet to find out," Li said as if nothing happened.

"What? Mr. Kuro is dead?" the sheriff said with a gasp.

"Did I stutter?"

"No, but what a surprise, I'm so sorry Cli," he sighed. "I will try and find the culprit as soon as possible."

"Thank you," the girl whispered.

"Here's a clue for you," Li said, and tossed the pearl to the sheriff.

"How is this, a clue?"

"Cli said that her father had a whole collection of those things, but this was the only thing I found the wreckage. So obviously the ones who did it wanted them."

"So, maybe that just means that they were destroyed in the explosion." Li rolled his eyes.

"I don't see how you're the sheriff," he said coldly. "It takes a lot to destroy a whole pearl especially this type. It as hard as steel, one explosion won't destroy this thing. Besides if what Cli said is true, and these things are rare those assassins won't be stupid enough to blow up the pearls too." The sheriff looked at Li in awe. In all his years he had never seen a kid his age figure all of this information out just by looking at a pearl.

"I'll get right on it," he said finally.

"Li how can you be so inconsiderate?!" Sakura hissed when they left. Li just looked at her. "You just told him Mr. Kuro died like it wasn't a big deal!"

"That's not my problem," he said simply.

"You're so selfish!"

"Sue me." Cli on the other hand paid no attention to the group; she was so depressed she didn't feel anything around her. Tears started to fall again; she could not believe her father was gone. She doubted that anyone would find the ones responsible even though Li seemed on the right path. She was still shock, her father was only parent she knew, and now because of some stupid pearls he was taken from her. She now understood the true meaning of forlorn, before she never knew the feeling, but now she knew, but she wished didn't. Her state of shock was so strong that she didn't notice she made a wrong turn into an alley. In the darkness a pair of red looked at her.

In a room far away from our heroes a large ninja like figure walked into a grand room. A large shriken (you know those star things.) His face was covered up to his red eyes, a katana and daggers went along his belt. His voice was raspy and deep as he spoke to the figure in the chair.

"Your request has been completed sir," he said. "My men have destroyed the Kuro household, and taken the pearls."

"What of the girl?" the man asked.

"As of this moment she is about to be taken care of. Though I must say, I doubt the success of this mission sir."

"Really? Why?"

"According to the men who were observing the first two attempts, a young man has always interfered, what makes you think he won't this time?" the assassin asked his eyes trying to make out the figure in the darkness of the room.

"I thought you said you and your men were of the best underground assassins in town? Has confidence shattered because of one boy?" the man asked.

"Of course not sir, it's just that, this boy is extremely skilled."

"Just worry about the girl, she is our prime target."

"Yes sir," the assassin said, saluted and leaped out the window to observe the assassination.

Cli stared blankly at the wall in front of her, the distant look in her eyes was hard to ignore. Eventually she fell to her knees, and started to cry her eyes out.

"Daddy," she whispered. Suddenly, something shot out from behind her, and cut her shoulder. "Who's there?!" When she looked at the wall there was a medium sized kunai with a chain attached, stuck to the wall. Cli looked around, and saw an assassin leap out from the rooftop and land gracefully. The end part of the chain was wrapped around his left hand; at his side were darts, and smaller kunai.

"Cli Kuro, prepare to meet your father," the assassin said darkly.

'So far so good,' the large ninja thought as he watched from above. 'Just don't screw this up Hita.' Cli screamed as she dodged four kunai, she tried to get out of the large alley, but every time a kunai whizzed past her cheeks.

"There's no escape Ms. Now just hold still, and I'll make your death quick, like your father's," Hita said with a smirk under his mask.

"You...you were involved?" the girl asked as the tears slowly came down.

"Silence!" Hita shouted, and wrapped the chain around her neck. The tight grip of the chain made Cli gasp for air, her blue eyes bulged out when the grip tightened greatly.

"Please, please let me go," she whispered, her voice was leaving her as well as her air.

"No way missy, no body no pay, now hold still!" Hita shouted, and threw four kunai at her. Cli closed her eyes preparing for the impact. Two hit her shoulders making her go on her knees even further, she waited for the last two, but they never came. When she opened her eyes she saw Li in front of her with the kunai in his hands.

"Cli are you all right?" Sakura and Tomoyo asked at the same time as they ran up to her.

"I think you've had enough," Li said coldly.

'Damn that boy! We were so close! Wait, perhaps if we kill both the boy and the girl Matena will pay us double!' the large ninja thought.

"Sakura, Tomoyo," Cli whispered.

"You're lucky Kero followed you when you got lost," Sakura said.

"Just leave everything to Li now," Tomoyo whispered. The cold dark alley grew colder as the dark wind blew. Li and Hita locked eyes before one them moved. Hita leaped from his spot on the roof, and unwrapped, the chain around Cli's neck.

"Try this!" he shouted, and shot the chain towards Li. The young man jumped to the side, the chain grazing his chest. Hita flipped and landed on another rooftop. Li turned around in time to dodge ten kunai heading his way. Just when he was about to counter the chain stabbed his leg. Hita smirked, and leaped in the air again, in a flash Li was pulled into the air as Hita pulled the chain towards him, readying a kunai.

"Element Lighting!" the blast of lighting knocked the knife away, buying him time. A sliver blur suddenly sliced through the chain, Li flipped and landed on a rooftop.

"Impressive boy, I have never anyone your age that is this skilled," the assassin said.

"Tsk, yeah I'm one in a million." Hita suddenly rushed towards Li and in a flash drew a sword.

'Shit! He had a sword hidden away just in case,' Li thought.

CLANG!!!!!!!

The two were in a standoff as their swords were locked together. Hita managed to push Li back far enough for him to cut his arm, the chestnut haired fighter countered with a fast attack that cut Hita's chest. Li charged in, and easily knocked his sword away causing the assassin to be back in a vulnerable spot. He rose up his hands signaling that he had surrendered.

"Now tell me who are you working for?" Li asked angrily. Hita was in no position to argue, Li's sword was positioned right in front of his throat, make him angry and he was done for.

"A man known as Matena," he answered simply.

"Okay and why does he want to kill that Kuro girl?"

"I dunno," Hita said calmly, but his tension returned when Li inched his sword closer to his throat.

"Wanna say that again?"

"He said something about.....ah!!!" Hita was cut off when five kunai shot out from no where, and killed him. Li growled, and cursed under his breath.

"Li what happened up there?!!!" Sakura asked. Li ignored her, and looked over the body. He turned it over, and found a small pouch. His eyes widened when he opened it, it was a whole pile of Forlorn Pearls.

'I thought so, they do want these pearls, but there has be something bigger behind this, and what does Cli have to do with any of this?'

"Li what's going on?" Tomoyo shouted. Kero decided to forget shouting, and flew up to meet him.

"So what did you find?" he asked.

"More pearls," Li said simply.

"More pearls, well they defiantly have a theme going," Kero replied. The young man started to look over the body more to see if it reveled anymore clues, when he didn't find anything, he leaped down from the rooftop.

"What did you find?" Tomoyo asked.

"More of those pearl things," Kero answered.

"He said he was working for someone named Matena or whatever the hell he said," Li mumbled to himself.

"Matena! Oh god no! He's the one who wants to kill me!??" Cli exclaimed. Li groaned when people started to stare.

"Uh...I think we'd better finish this back in the hotel room," Sakura said.

When they got back, it took Cli awhile to remain calm. She rushed around the room whining, crying, and shouting about Matena. Sakura and Tomoyo tried their best to calm her down, but to no avail. Li finally got fed up, and walked towards her.

"Shut up! Okay, just shut up, and calm down! We aren't going to learn a damn thing if you run around like some damn maniac! So just sit down, and shut up!" he shouted. Cli looked at him with her eyes wide and finally sat down.

"Well, now that that's over, who's this Matena guy?" Sakura asked. Cli sighed, and looked down.

"He's a dangerous criminal lord. Everyone in town knows about him, and how ruthless, and deadly he is. He's known for the most dangerous crimes in town. He caused the great fire about two years ago, it burned down a whole fraction of this town, and he was also the cause of the crimson massacre four years earlier, a whole neighborhood of people killed because one wouldn't pay the money he owned him." The look on her face was distant as she thought those days; she remembered the look on her father's face when he first found out, he tried his best to rebuild the town after the fire, but it was never the same again.

"I'd hate to be in your shoes right now," Kero concluded, Sakura suddenly smacked him. "What!? I was being truthful!"

"I know you were, can't see Cli is worried, this is no time for your jokes Kero," Sakura said sternly.

"That mine your dad found do think Matena had his eye on it?" Li asked.

"Maybe, I wouldn't be surprised if he did, he wants everything here. Then, when he's done he'll just to the next town, he's wanted just about everywhere," she sighed.

"If he wants that mine, why go after Cli and Mr. Kuro?" Tomoyo wondered.

"He wanted to kill Mr. Kuro since he owned the thing. Then, without an owner he could easily buy out the whole thing under some type of alias," Li mumbled.

"Even if that is true, why go after Cli?" Kero asked.

"Yeah explain that Sherlock," Sakura said.

"Obviously to scare Mr. Kuro into selling the whole thing to him. I doubted he even wanted to kill her," he answered.

"Wait, but her father's dead now why can't he buy the mine now?" Sakura wondered.

"So that there aren't any heirs left!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Everyone looked at her. "It's simple if anything should happen to Mr. Kuro everything he owned goes to Cli, at least that's how it usually works."

"How in the hell did you figure that out?" Li asked.

"When you're rich you pick up on a few things," she said simply.

"So we have answers, but no proof," Sakura concluded.

"What about that one ninja from last night?" Tomoyo asked. "He should be good enough."

"No good, just this morning they found him dead, cut in half," Li stated.

"We should report all this to the sheriff!" Cli exclaimed.

"And just what the hell will he do? We have no suspects, evidence, just theories, and they won't do shit," Li shot back.

"So what do we do?" Tomoyo asked. Li stood up, and grabbed his sword.

"We find him."

"How? We don't even where to start," Sakura argued.

"I have a feeling we'll find something at the remains of the Kuro household," the young man answered.

"What makes you say that?" Kero wondered.

"Just a feeling, now shut up and follow me if you want solve this damn mystery," Li answered simply, and walked out.

"What choice do we have?" Tomoyo sighed.

They managed to make it to the former Kuro household that afternoon. Cli couldn't stand to see her home in such ruins so she stayed back.

"So just what the heck are we looking for?!" Kero shouted as they looked through the wreckage.

"Just shut up and keep digging," Li said coldly as he pushed a rock out of the way. He dug deep into the wreckage throwing away any useless remains as he went.

"This is so sad," Sakura sighed.

"Yeah, I'd hate to see my house like this," Tomoyo agreed. While the small group dug through the debris the same large ninja from before watched them.

'If those brats actually find it, then Matena's plans for that mine are all over, looks like I'll have to get my hands dirty after all.' The ninja leaped from the rooftop, and grabbed the large shriken on his back. In one motion he threw the mighty weapon at the small group.

"Hey do you guys hear something?" Sakura asked as she looked up, but as soon as she did the girl ducked for cover.

"Grrr....shit," Li growled, and leaped into the air avoiding the weapon.

"Oh no Tomoyo look out!!!!" Sakura shouted at her friend who had her back turned. The raven haired girl gasped when she saw the shriken head her way. Kero shot towards her, and quickly put up his shield protecting Tomoyo. The weapon bounced off of the shield and flew back towards the sender. The group turned around when they heard the weapon stop.

"That must have been a powerful shield to stop my shriken," the ninja said.

"Who the hell are you?" Li asked dryly.

"I am Kaita, the grand assassin," he introduced.

"What do you want with us?" Sakura asked. The ninja slowly made his way towards them with his hands over the blades of his weapons.

"You have been getting in the way of my employer's business so I've come to end it," Kaita stated. "Now prepare meet your doom!" In a flash the shriken was hurled through the air again with the small group in its sights. Li quickly drew his sword and rushed towards the large weapon. The young man leaped on the large shriken as a push off to leap towards the large assassin.

"Take this you bastard!" Li shouted as he brought down his sword. Kaita looked at the sword with absolute no concern whatsoever. The ninja crossed his mighty thick arms over his head just as Li came down. A loud clang reached Li's ears; his face had a look of pure shock when he saw Kaita had blocked the attack with his arms.

"Surprised kid?" the ninja chuckled. Li jumped back, and charged again. Kaita smirked, and easily avoided his attack by jumping into the air.

"What!?"

"Look up kid!" Li looked up just in time to see Kaita's vast foot come down towards his face.

Li's eyes slowly fluttered open when he felt constant water drip on his head. His vision was hazy at first; the only thing he could fully feel was the aching pounding in his head. Though his vision was still hazy, Li tried to stand, but for some reason he couldn't. He grunted, and turned his blurry vision to behind him. He was in some sort of chair in some strange cavern, but that was all he could fully register with his bad vision. He tried to pulled his hands apart, but they were locked together, he looked to his feet, then realized he couldn't pull them apart either. The young man shook his head rapidly, reviving his vision. He was tied down to a chair, with dripping on his head from a stalactite. His sword was gone along with his talismans. He was positive that he was in some sort of underground cave, or mine when he noticed the tracks. The three other figures he noticed at the corner of his eye must have been the girls; he didn't bother to fully look at them he was too worried with where he was, and how to get out. Li squinted when he saw a bright light suddenly come from no where. He saw two figures, one was Kaita, but other he couldn't tell.

"Welcome to the Forlorn Pearl mine little boy," Kaita announced.

"It's been a while kid," the other man said. The others slowly started to wake up when they heard the two voices.

"Oh my head," Sakura groaned.

"Feels like I got run over by twelve horses, five times," Tomoyo moaned.

"What happened?" Cli asked weakly. Kaita chuckled when he heard them.

"I'm glad you're awake, ladies now I can introduce you to Matena the crime lord!"

"So you finally caught the trouble makers eh?" Matena said in a cold deep voice. Li smirked when he heard him.

"You can stop pretending now, Mr. Kuro." Everyone looked at Li with confusion.

"Li are you nuts, Mr. Kuro is dead!" Sakura argued.

"You moron! Don't you find it odd in the destruction site of their house, there wasn't a drop of blood on any of the rocks?" Sakura and Tomoyo thought for a minute, and then nodded in agreement. "But even before that, at the festival, why would a father miss his daughter's performance just for work? Then, that attack, nobody followed us I would sensed it, you knew exactly where she would be and when."

"Man Li's good," Tomoyo mumbled.

"Finally, while I was looking through the debris I found two deeds to that mine, one was signed by you, and the other was signed by someone named Tiba, in your handwriting. That whole blowing up the house was just to destroy any evidence in your house, and to make it look like you died so you could come back with an alias, face it Mr. Kuro you're Matena." The man laughed, and stepped into the light, it was Mr. Kuro!

"You're very perspective little boy, quite the young detective. I knew you were too perfect for the job," Mr. Kuro said. Cli's eyes widened when she saw him.

"Da-da- daddy?" Cli gasped with tears coming down. "You're that monster Matena?" Her eyes were full of sorrow, and pain, the pressure of the ropes on her hands left her as she stared at her criminal father. "You killed all those people?"

"Idiot, he tried to kill you too," Li reminded her.

"What kind of father tries to kill his own daughter!?" Sakura shouted. Mr. Kuro went up to Sakura, and slapped her.

"Silence girl!"

"So you have us, what are you going to do now?" the boy asked calmly.

"It's simple I buy out the whole mine under a new name, then once the men I hired clear out all the pearls, I'll blow up the entire town, then move on," the man said with a laugh.

"You can't do that!!!" Tomoyo shouted, but Mr. Kuro silenced her with a slap too.

"I wouldn't say much if I were you girl, because once the town goes up in smoke so will the mine," the crime boss laughed. Li growled, but slowly slipped into his sleeve and pull out a kunai he took from Hita's body.

"Why thought, why would you try to kill your own daughter!?" Sakura shouted.

"I needed insurance," the man said simply.

"What?"

"It's simple, my guess is he couldn't fully buy the mine, it was split between him and Cli, so he made it look like he died so that Cli owned the whole mine now. Then, he would kill her so that the mine was free and buy the whole thing," Li explained.

"Very good kid, you really are quite the detective. I could use someone like you," Mr. Kuro said.

"Sorry I don't work with shit heads," Li said slyly, just when he finished that sentence he managed to cut the ropes on his hands. "Now it's time to end this game." Mr. Kuro raised an eyebrow, but his eyes widened when Li's hands separated. In a flash, Li cut the ropes around his legs, and shot towards the man. Kaita immediately stepped in front of him just as Li threw his punch. The young man pulled back in pain, but Kaita grabbed him, and held him over his head. Li looked down and saw his sword, along with his talismans on his belt. The large ninja threw Li into the stone wall with a smirk.

"Still want to fight little boy?" Li smirked as he stood up.

"Hell yeah now that I'm ready," he said slyly and held up his sword. Kaita frowned, and unhooked his large shriken off his back.

"Get ready to die!"

"I was just about the same thing."

AN: 22 pages!!!!! God!!! It took me forever to finish this!!!!! I hope you guys are happy because if your not I might as well discontinue this story right now!!! Just kidding, but still it did take me like nine days to finish this. I guess you thank the Manga Naruto for such a speedy update. I read volumes 1 and 2 and my mind was filled with ideas for this chapter, and the whole Fanfiction as well. Plus, I got the idea for a mystery in this chapter from Case Closed/ Detective Conan. You can probably tell I based Li's smarts in this chapter off of Jimmy. Well anyway, will Li and the others survive this encounter? Will Cli ever forgive her father? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels, see ya!


	14. A Watery Conclusion

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 14

Quick AN: I've been getting some reviews asking when Sakura will do any real fighting, and my answer is, be patient. I know I've been focusing on Li for a while, but it's not intentional because I couldn't think of anything for Sakura to do. But now after watching a series called Devil Hunter Yoko I've gotten some ideas. So don't worry, Sakura will be in action when, I'm not quite sure. Well anyway, please continue to support this story. Now I'm done, on with the fic!

Li stared at the assassin, Kaita. He, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Cli were in currently in some sort of mine, Li had just figured out that Mr. Kuro was a deadly criminal, and Cli was still in shock. The grand assassin had unhooked his large shriken and ready to fight.

"I must say kid; you are very good, perfect in fact. You're strong, fast, smart, and close to emotionless, you'll be perfect with me. Why waste your time with those degenerates?" Mr. Kuro asked. "I'll ask you again join me, and you'll have riches beyond your wildest dreams."

"I already gave you my answer shit head, or should I add deaf to your list of flaws?" Li asked. Mr. Kuro smirked coldly as he turned around.

"Very well, Kaita dispose of him, and his little girlfriends. I will be readying the explosives," and with that Mr. Kuro faded in the darkness. Kaita chuckled as he readied his shriken; Li tightened his grip on his sword as he saw Kaita prepare himself.

'This guy's body is about as hard as rock, hell he even managed to block my sword just with his hands! Damn it!' A loud SWOOSH snapped Li out of his thoughts, he looked and saw the immense shriken speed towards him. The young man managed to flip over the weapon, as soon as he landed, he rushed towards the assassin. Kaita just smirked as Li raised his sword. Suddenly, the shriken made a sharp turn and sped towards Li.

"Li behind you!" Sakura shouted.

"There's something weird about that weapon!" Tomoyo shouted as well. Li turned his head, and just barely managed to dodge the weapon. He growled when Kaita caught it with ease, and a smug look on his face.

"So the weapon can turn like a boomerang, no big deal," Li said calmly.

"Oh, but there's more kid," Kaita chuckled. He hurled the large weapon again, but Li quickly ducked, and pulled out one of his talismans.

"Take this! Element Lighting!!!" The shriken turned around again, it came back to Kaita who used it as a shield against the magic attack. "No way!!"

"Does that thing have a mind of its own or something?" Tomoyo wondered. Li growled, but he was cut short when Kaita's tree like arms wrapped themselves around his neck. In a flash Li bounced against the rock wall, the young man slowly slid down behind the others with blood coming down his head.

'Damn it!' he thought as he panted. The big man smirked, and chuckled as he made his way towards the young fighter. 'His body is as hard as stone! Plus that Kuro manic is about to destroy the whole town, this is just perfect! Maybe those morons will be useful after all.' Li slowly stood up, and in one motion cut the bonds on Sakura's hands and feet.

"Get to that Kuro bastard and make sure he doesn't set off those explosives!" Li ordered as Sakura freed Tomoyo and Cli. "Hurry up!"

"Right, we're on it!" Sakura nodded, and she, Tomoyo and Cli went after Mr. Kuro. Li's attention was suddenly turned to Kaita when he heard the loud swoosh of the shriken whizzing through the air. The young man leaped over the weapon and once again tried a downward strike.

"You are such a slow learner kid," Kaita smirked. The weapon once again made a quick turn only this time; Li didn't have enough time to dodge. In one instant, the young man was knocked into the ground with his lower back bleeding severally. The pain was incredible; the only thing Li could do was twitch on the ground as he back shot indescribable pain throughout his whole body. Kaita laughed as he saw Li's condition, he swiftly caught his weapon and cracked his knuckles. "This is my favorite part."

Sakura and the others ran through the long dark tunnel of the mine, looking blindly for Mr. Kuro and the explosives he was planning on using. The candles aliened along the walls provided little light, and created the illusion of the girls getting no where. The dust filled air was slowly getting thinner and thinner as the girls went deeper.

"Sakura, do you have any idea where we're going?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura stopped, and shook her head.

"I wish I did, but this place is huge! Mr. Kuro could be anywhere by now," Sakura sighed and looked at Cli who had been silent ever since Li reveled he was the deadly criminal Matena. As she walked over to her, she heard her whisper,

"Daddy." Sakura put her hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Cli, I'm sorry about all this. I know your dad meant a lot to you, and I'm sure none of us meant for any of this to happen." Cli only nodded slightly so Sakura went on. "If you don't want to do this, you could always wait here for us, I'm sure we'll find you as soon as this is all over. Then, you can forget all about this, okay?" The distant look in Cli's eyes lingered when she answered.

"Okay," she answered softly, and slowly sat down.

"Come on Tomoyo," Sakura said, and the two girls were off. Unknown to them, four eyes watched the whole scene from above.

Li stumbled to the ground when he suffered another strong blow to his face; his face was filled with bruises and cuts from the rapid attacks from Kaita. His punches were like being stuck in a rock slide while running into a stone wall. Kaita grabbed Li by his neck, and threw him into wall, then slammed him into the ground making a small hole. The young man coughed up blood as Kaita stomped on his stomach rapidly. Li could barely fight back, all he could do was weakly put up his guard, but that was far from enough. Blood trickled down his chin as he panted.

"That all you got?" Li said weakly. "I know babies who hit harder."

"You and I both know you don't stand a chance against me, so what's the point of this tough guy act?" Kaita asked with a smirk.

"My, aren't we confident," Li replied. "Your men are one of the top assassination groups right?"

"Right?"

"If that's true, then why did three of your men get defeated by me, a mere kid?" Li pointed out. "Maybe you aren't as great as you think." Suddenly it felt as though the young man was stabbed ten times in his stomach. Li spat out more blood as he gasped, Kaita delivered a strong blow to his stomach.

"Shut up," he growled. "I know my last two men are the best. They managed to kill a king who had a whole army of bodyguards! We are the best!" Kaita yelled. Li still smirked.

"A whole army? Big deal, any assassin can do that. Your men are nothing but overconfident, weak slobs who get lucky. If you guys had any real skill I wouldn't be here fighting with you." Li was suddenly knocked onto the tracks of the mine. Kaita wrapped his hands around Li's throat.

"Silence you fool!" Kaita shouted. "If we're as bad you say, why I am I kicking your ass right now! Answer that!!" Even though his air was being cut off, Li still managed a smirk.

"Maybe I'm just letting you." Kaita suddenly increased the pressure.

"I'll show you who's better!!!" the assassin shouted.

"Strangling just shows you aren't strong enough to beat your opponent hand to hand," Li choked. Kaita smirked and released Li, who took deep breaths to regain his air.

"You're right, so now, you're going to die, by my hands!" the assassin smirked.

'It's working,' Li thought.

Sakura and Tomoyo continued walking down the long tunnel with only candles as their light source, along with the gleam of the forlorn pearls in walls. They suddenly found themselves in front of a river with a door way across from it.

"How the heck can a river be down here?" Tomoyo wondered. Sakura simply shrugged, and looked over to the small archway the river was flowing into. Her eyes widened when she saw the grand waterfall that led to piles of forlorn pearls. Suddenly, Sakura froze; once again everything seemed to slow down to her. Her breath was as cold as ice, and she could see nothing but darkness. She could only see herself, and two strange glows coming from the river.

'What now?' she asked herself. The young girl tried to shake it off, but the feeling refused to leave her. At that moment she heard a loud splash coming from the lake. The two girls spun around and saw two figures leap out from the water. One was armed with steel claws, and the other had a long chain wrapped around his arms like Hita did. They split apart and lunged at Sakura and Tomoyo. Sakura dove, and managed to save Tomoyo from having her head sliced off from first ninja, but the second ninja's chain cut her shoulder.

"Who are these guys Sakura?" Tomoyo asked her best friend.

"I know don't know, but I'm getting the same feeling from them as I did the other ninjas we've faced," Sakura answered. The two ninjas smirked as they landed.

"I am Glin," the first one exclaimed, and raised his steel claws.

"And I am Tuio!" the second one shouted, and spun his chain around.

"And together we are, the Elite Ninja Brothers!!!!!" they shouted at once, and got into strange poses. The two girls both sweatdropped when they both stood there still in their poses.

"Are they ninjas or cheerleaders?" Tomoyo asked. As soon as the girls blinked, the two disappeared. Sakura and Tomoyo's eyes widened as they looked around frantically. The two girls heard the chuckling of the two killers echo throughout the whole area. The light tipping on the walls was constant as well, but the chuckles of the two made it harder for Sakura to hear them.

"Having trouble keeping up?" Glin's voice asked cockily. "We're the fastest ninjas in our group, we can be almost anywhere!"

"So many vital spots," Tuio's voice suddenly stated. "The heart, the spinal column, the stomach, the throat, the head, oh and I can go on and on. Which one to hit I wonder?" Sakura's palms was as wet as the lake near them, the two ninjas could kill both her and Tomoyo in an instant. She had never been nervous or sacred in her whole life. These two guys were worse than any monster she'd seen so far, and twice as deadly. Everything suddenly froze again, the darkness returned, along with the two glows that were circling around them.

'That's it! If I trust my feelings then I might be able to see them!' Sakura thought. 'But the question is can I stop them? Li could probably take these guys out in an instant; he's a lot better than I am. No, I can't put myself down like this. I can do it, I can do it!!!' Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the two glows head for Tomoyo. The poor girl was so sacred, she couldn't even see them heading for her, and Sakura had to act and fast.

"Tomoyo!! Look out behind you!!!!"

Li suffered another hard left hook from Kaita, then a strong blow to his stomach. Kaita laced his fingers together, and slammed Li into the ground.

"Now who's the weak one?" Kaita asked with a laugh, but he stopped when he saw Li slowly get up. The assassin growled, and attacked again. He threw a fast punch, but Li dodged and countered with a punch of his own. It might as well punched a brick wall since it felt he did more damage to himself rather than his opponent. Kaita laughed cockily, as he watched Li hold his hand in pain. "You fool!" Li suddenly found himself face down in the dirt, with Kaita stomping on him.

"Hitting your opponent when he's down, you really are weak," Li chuckled as he wiped the blood coming down his chin. Kaita yelled with all his might, and rammed Li into another stone wall. As he was gasping for air, Kaita grabbed his head, and slammed it against the wall. To Li, it felt like the back of his head was being hit with four metal poles at the same time. Blood started to flow from the back of his head, and cracks slowly started to form in the wall, but Kaita kept going. Li's vision was slowly fading, and darkness started to creep up on him. His body was gradually growing numb, and it would be soon until he would feel this anymore.

"HA!! I'm going to make sure I burn every part of your worthless body kid!" Kaita laughed cruelly as he continued. In a last burst of energy, Li raised his sword, and delivered a swift slash to his stomach. Kaita's eyes widened, and jumped back. His stomach was cut deeply open, and the blood started to spill on the stone floor.

"You can't kill me that easily," Li said with a smirk. Kaita growled, and unhooked his shriken.

"DIE YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!"

Tomoyo looked behind her with widened eyes, and saw a fast sliver streak rush towards her heart. Everything slowed down again to Sakura as she rushed to her friend. Her eyes were fixed on Glin's claws as they made their way to Tomoyo. Sakura shot her hand forward, and a loud blast of wind blew rocks towards the assassin. Glin's eyes instantly shut close as he felt the dust from the wind reach him, suddenly he was on the ground nursing his nose. Tomoyo breathed with relief, but it was short lived when she heard Sakura scream. The dark haired girl looked, and saw her best friend wrapped tightly in a chain with Tuio standing on the wall behind her.

"Glin, you okay?" he asked his brother. The older assassin stood up, and in a blink of an eye he was next to his brother on the wall.

"Damn girl sent a rock straight to my nose," he replied as he rubbed it. Tuio just chuckled evilly as he tightened the hold he had on Sakura.

"Then I guess we should make her pay for that huh?" The two brothers shared an evil laugh as Glin agreed. Sakura cried out in pain as the chain grew tighter, and tighter, she suddenly felt Glin's presence behind her, and knew immediately what he was about to do.

"Get ready to die girl!" Glin laughed, and swung his claws. Sakura gathered all her strength, and managed to duck under the attack. The sudden movement startled both brothers, and as a result, Tuio lost enough of his grip for Sakura twist out of. As she came back up she brought up her leg, and it connected with Glin's groin. The assassin's eyes widened as he fell down to his knees and clutched it. The girls could barely stifle their laughter as Glin twitched, and rolled around in pain.

"You little bitch! I'll kill you that! I'll kill you!!!!" the ninja swore as he rolled around. Tuio just scoffed, and leaped towards the auburn haired girl. Sakura suddenly found herself on the ground with a bright red mark on her cheek. Tuio chucked as he stood over her, his fist ready for another hit as soon as the girl got up.

"Get up Sakura!" Tomoyo shouted, but in a blink of an eye, she was pinned to the wall with Glin's claws impaired in her shoulder. Tears of pain flowed down her cheeks as she clutched her shoulder. Blood stained her shirt sleeve, and ran down her arm. A small pool was formed as it dripped down her fingertips.

"You shut up girl, your turn will come soon enough," Glin laughed, and turned his attention to Sakura.

"Tomoyo! You leave her alone!" The girl cried, but because that she received a hard kick to her side. Tuio laughed slyly, and in motion grabbed her by the hair. Sakura's tears fell to the ground as she forced to her feet, Glin readied his claws and shot towards her neck. Her eyes slowly shut themselves, readying herself for the end. In an instant however, her emerald orbs shot open again, and were fixed on the small river in front of her. The water slowly started to ripple, and turn. Small waves slowly formed, and a soft wind blew around it.

"What the hell is going on!" Tuio growled when he felt Sakura's hair suddenly blow around like it was in the wind. Glin stopped his attack to see what was going on. A loud SPASH reached their ears, and all the water in the lake shot up in the air. The soft wind turned into a harsh storm, which caused the water to form a water tornado. Tomoyo looked in awe as she saw Sakura slowly rise up in the air, and took her position in the center.

"Sakura?" she gasped. Her skin paled, and it looked like her hair grew longer. Her face had a dull, and spaced out expression to them, her bright emerald eyes seemed to become darker. The girl's paled expression showed no emotion as she looked at the brothers. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the ninja brothers. The girl raised her finger, and said dryly, and darkly,

"Go." The water suddenly shot towards the two brothers, who were locked in fear. The blast was too wide to dodge, plus they were backed into a corner which meant they were doomed. As Tomoyo looked at the blast, she could have sworn she had a figure in the center of the water. The blast soon engulfed the two brothers, and created the tornado again. Tomoyo could hear their loud screams of mercy, and forgiveness, but it fell on deaf ears. Sakura, who was still in the air, waved her hand, and the water parted. Surprisingly, nothing was left of the two brothers, except their weapons.

"Sakura," Tomoyo gasped. The girl suddenly clutched her shoulder in pain. Sakura looked towards her, and floated back to the ground. Tomoyo's eyes widened when she saw that even the way she walked changed. Before it was a little clumsily, and looked a little awkward, but now it seemed so smooth, and fluid. Her hair had very much grew longer, her once short hair was down to her waist. Tomoyo squinted when she saw the bright white light that was around Sakura. Through the light, Tomoyo thought she saw two white wings on Sakura's back, but she figured it was just something that the light caused. When she was close enough, Sakura put her hand on Tomoyo's shoulder.

"Cease," she said softly, and mysteriously. Tomoyo gasped when she saw the wound close up, and the pain disappeared as well. The water that was still in the air, suddenly shrunk, and shot towards Sakura's hands. Once it touched her it was covered in a white light, and took the shape of a card. When it faded away it was indeed a card, with a picture of a woman that looked like a mermaid. She had a blue gem on her forehead, long hair, and long fins that covered her upper body. On the bottom it said,

"The Watery." The intense white light around Sakura slowly faded away, and her skin returned to its normal color. Her hair went back its short length, and her eyes became bright and large again. Sakura looked around with a confused expression on her face.

"Tomoyo, what's going on? What happened to those two ninja guys? What happened to the lake? Why is there a card in my hand? Why do you look so shocked?" Sakura asked with a clueless expression on her face.

"You...mean....you don't remember?" Tomoyo asked slowly.

"Remember what?" Sakura asked. Tomoyo shook her head, this was unbelievable. It as if Sakura had become a completely different person, even her hair changed! Nothing about the Sakura she just saw was anything like the current Sakura. Nothing!

"It's nothing, now come on we have to stop Mr. Kuro remember?" Tomoyo reminded her. Sakura nodded, and they crossed the now dry river and went through the door.

Li's head snapped up, he had just felt an incredible magical energy come out of no where. It was nothing like Sakura's, it was completely different, and much more powerful. But before he could a get fix on it, it disappeared just as mysteriously as it appeared. His attention had to turn itself back to the fight for now. The grand assassin hurled his large weapon to the young man with a wide smirk.

'As soon as that brat makes any kind of attack, my weapon will come back, and take off his head!' Kaita laughed in his mind.

"Weakling," Li said suddenly said as he dodged the weapon.

"What's that?!" Kaita shouted.

"Only a weakling relies on a large weapon like that. You know your opponent won't stand a chance, so your hoping to end the fight fast since your too weak and sacred to fight me hand to hand," Li said calmly. Kaita growled, and raised his fist. The big man rushed towards the boy, who still that calm expression on his face.

"I'm going to kill you kid!!!"

"Element Lighting!" Kaita easily dodged the lighting blast and charged towards Li, who didn't looked worried at all.

"Time to die kid!!!" Li just smirked, and said slyly,

"Game Over." Suddenly the boy jumped in the air, and did a flip. Kaita's eyes widened when he saw what was behind Li, it was his shriken! The man had no time to react whatsoever. In an instant, the upper body and lower body of Kaita both separated, and fell with a soft thud on the rocks. Li smirked and walked away. His stride turned into a jog as he followed Sakura's energy deeper into the cave.

Mr. Kuro growled as he watched the team of ninjas lift the boxes of forlorn pearls and head up a ladder that lead into a room in a mansion. The ninjas then would load the boxes on a covered carriage, it was a very slow process, especially with such a large collection. Mr. Kuro was currently in the living room of the mansion, he sat at his desk with a pistol in his drawer.

'Damn, this is taking longer than I thought. Those ninjas better be done by midnight, because that's when the fireworks start,' he thought with a laugh. He looked at a picture of his wife, and Cli. He simply put them face down, and watched the progress of the ninjas. Suddenly his eyes turned to a door on the side. His eyes widened when he saw Sakura and Tomoyo emerge from the door.

"Wow this is even bigger than the last mansion!" Sakura said in awe.

"No wonder he blew up the last one," Tomoyo said. Mr. Kuro growled, and picked up his pistol. The click of him cocking it caught their attention.

"Well, well, well ladies, I find it pretty hard to believe that you two managed to escape the mine. However, at this point it doesn't matter, because once I pull this trigger your lives are over," he chuckled.

"Mr. Kuro stop this! This won't do you any good, there's no point to all this meaningless murders," Sakura said, but Mr. Kuro just laughed.

"To you it maybe meaningless, but to me it's everything! Now get ready to say goodbye," the evil man said as he was about to pull the trigger.

"Drop it!" a cold voice suddenly said. Mr. Kuro turned to the door again, and saw Cli standing there with her own pistol pointed at him. "Drop the pistol father." Mr. Kuro, without hesitation just turned his pistol to be aimed at her.

"Don't be a fool Cli. You and I both know you can't do it." Cli proved him wrong as soon as she cocked the pistol.

"I'm going to ask you again, father," she said coldly. The father and daughter stared at each other with cold expressions on their faces, their fingers ready to pull the trigger at any second. Suddenly the light breeze from the window, took Cli's attention off her father for one second, but that's all the man needed.

BANG!!!!

Cli was suddenly on the ground nursing her shoulder, her pistol at her feet.

"Lesson one Cli never take your eyes off your opponent," her father said with a dark smirk. He walked up to her, and took her pistol. "Now to finish off your friends." Sakura and Tomoyo stepped back in fear as Mr. Kuro aimed at them. All they heard was a loud BANG! Suddenly the card in Sakura's hands shot out water, and created a strong wall of water that protected the girls.

"What happened?" Tomoyo asked. The water then shot towards Mr. Kuro and wrapped itself around the pistol. Mr. Kuro waved his arm around in panic, trying to get whatever was on his arm off of him. Cli meanwhile, dragged herself to her father's desk, clutching her shoulder.

'I know dad always had an extra pistol in his desk. I just need to find it,' she thought to herself as she searched through the desk. The water slid off the crime lord's arm, but then it knocked him into a wall before it disappeared back in the card. Once it returned, Sakura looked at it strangely. She flipped it back and forth trying to figure it out.

"I don't get it, it just looks like a normal card now, but it just saved us," she said to Tomoyo. Mr. Kuro groaned and held his head as he got up. He was suddenly back up against the wall when Cli pulled out his extra pistol.

"Now Cli, you wouldn't shoot your own father now would you?" he asked in a fatherly tone. To his dismay however, there was no change in Cli's icy stare at him.

"My father's dead," she said coldly.

BANG!!

That morning, the sheriff, and all his men made the most arrests in one day. When they reached the mansion they found all the ninjas defeated, nothing but signs and tracks left of the two deadliest ninja brothers in town, two halves of Kaita in a strange mine, and Mr. Kuro in need of medical attention for a deep shoulder wound. Near him was the papers Li found, any other evidence that proved he was the criminal Matena.

"Damn, those kids pull all this off in just one night?" the sheriff thought out loud as he looked over the crime scene.

"Thank you, all of you, for everything," Cli said with a bow.

"Don't mention it Cli," Sakura smiled.

"Yeah it was nothing," Tomoyo said.

"Damn it, all that shit, and not one gold of that reward money," Li growled.

"Well Mr. Kuro being the criminal could be a factor," Tomoyo replied.

"So what's going to happen to your dad now?" Sakura asked.

"Well, if he's charged guilty, which I'm sure he will be, he might get life in prison, or just executed," Cli answered like it was nothing.

"Okay," Sakura said with a sweatdrop.

"So you're going live by yourself?" Tomoyo asked.

"No I'm going live with my aunt and uncle on a farm, and all the money that's been rounded up by the Forlorn Pearls are going to charity," Cli said proudly.

"Hey that's good," Sakura smiled.

"Can we go please!" Li growled, and started walking.

"Well goodbye, and good luck," Tomoyo said.

"Good luck on your travels!" Cli shouted as they left.

"Oh my god!" Sakura exclaimed.

"What?" Li asked.

"We've completely forgot about Kero!" Li just rolled his eyes.

"We're better off without that damn mascot anyway."

"Hey! I heard that!" Kero shouted as he flew down to meet them. "Where have you guys been!!! Ever since that Kaita punk attacked, I've been trapped under all that debris FOR THE ENTIRE NIGHT!!!!!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW THAT FEELS!!!!!!!!!" Kero shouted.

"Sorry Kero-chan," Sakura apologized.

"I think we should have just left you there," Li said.

"You little punk! I'm going rip off that finger of yours!!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"All right then fine!"

"OW! Damn it! That's it you dead! Element Lighting!!"

"ARGGGG!!!!!!!"

AN: Sweatdrops Okay, what a group, that's all I can say. I'm so sorry for the delay, I was busy with school and homework. Damn you high school! Plus I was working on other fics. So anyway, what is this strange power that Sakura has? Will there be more like the Watery? How did she get such powers anyway? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Oh, and I hope this had enough of Sakura in action for you people who have been asking. And if it isn't there will be more, just be patient please. So anyway, see you guys next chapter!


	15. Appearance of Fire

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 15

A thick black smoke rose over the trees, on a dark moonless night. The roaring of a mass fire soared through the forest as the amazing combustion continued. The small town's houses were all burnt to the ground, nothing but ash, and debris remained. The trees close to the town fell over and made the fire spread more rapidly. In the middle of it all was a sole figure, armed with nothing but his hands. His jet black hair covered his blue eyes, and a red cloak covered his body as he walked away from the fire. A strong clinging was heard as he walked; it was the chains that were locked on his wrists. They jingled together as walked. He didn't bother to look at the damage he cause since, he had only one thing on his mind, revenge.

"Faster!" Li shouted at Sakura that same night. Sakura groaned, and did the punch kick combo she had been doing for the last ten minutes. "High block, low block!" Sakura quickly did the two blocks as fast as she could, but it wasn't enough for her trainer. "Faster!"

"Can we take a break?" Sakura asked as sweat dripped down her brow.

"No," he said simply. "Now rear leg side kick, round kick, and a scissors kick all on the same leg!"

Sakura fell flat on the grass when she and Li returned to camp, luckily for her Tomoyo already had a soup made, and Kero was already eating it.

"So how was the training?" she asked with a smile.

"Brutal, like it always is," Sakura replied, and shot a glare at Li, who just ignored her.

"You'll get used to it over time," Tomoyo reassured her. Sakura nodded, while Li just rolled his eyes as he drank his soup. His eyes suddenly snapped to the left, and pounded Kero into the ground with his fist.

"If you want to steal food you have to be quicker than that, you damn stuffed animal."

"Grrr! How many times do I have to tell you!! I am not a stuffed animal!!!! I am Cerberus!!!" Kero shouted.

"You sure as hell act like a stuffed animal. You're small, light, and can barely put up a fight! You're a stuffed animal in my book," replied Li. The two shot each other cold glares before returning to their food. Tomoyo and Sakura laughed at the scene. Sakura pulled out the card she got from the whole Kuro ordeal, she was still curious about the card and how she got it.

"Hey Li, Kero, do any of you know what this card is?" Sakura asked, and held it up. Li, and Kero looked at the card for while, analyzing it, then replied.

"No," Li said dryly, and returned to his food.

"I never seen it before," Kero replied.

"You sure?" Sakura asked. Both guys nodded their heads.

"One thing is for sure though; I can feel a great magic coming from that card. It's not your ordinary play card," Kero said.

"Where did you find it?" Li asked.

"I dunno. When I went up against these two ninja guys in that cave, I blacked out, and when I came to this was in my hands," Sakura explained.

"Well that helps," Li said sarcastically.

"Well, sorry, that's all I can remember," Sakura said.

"Did you see anything Tomoyo?" Kero asked the other girl.

"No, nothing I can recall," she lied. She knew what she saw was something Sakura didn't need to know about for now. Kero suddenly yawned, and flew into Sakura's pocket.

"I'm crashing, soup always makes me sleepy," he said, and in a few seconds he was out like a light.

"Yeah, I'm going to bed too," Sakura yawned. In a matter of minutes the two girls were in a deep sleep on the sheets they managed to buy in town a while back. Li stood up, and started to stench.

'Now that those three morons are asleep, I can focus on my real training,' he thought, and headed for a clearing. Suddenly, he snapped his head behind him, and everything became cold, and dark.

The young man from the burning village walked with grace through the forest, his cloak swaying in the light wind. His feet made no sounds as he strode through the clearings. His cold eyes picked up five figures in front of him.

"Stop right there you monster!" the leader ordered. The young man looked over the five men that started to surround him. They were dressed in black gis, with swords, and bamboo sticks on their belts. Their masks only reveled their eyes, and on the back was the symbol for darkness.

"You must be hired interceptors. People who sneak up on bandits and other wanted criminals and block their way so you can catch them," the young man said smoothly.

"Yes, and we're here for your head!" their leader exclaimed as they drew their swords. The young man just smirked.

"I have an agenda to keep, so I have no time to play with such weaklings," the man said. One of their men growled, and tightened his grip on his sword.

"You may think your so tough, but your are outnumbered. You're bound to lose!" the leader said confidently.

"Perhaps I am, but your numbers mean little to me. I can beat all of you with my eyes closed," the man replied as he looked around.

"We'll see about that! Men attack!!!!" On that signal, the four men jumped towards the young man, who just shut his eyes and said,

"Your funeral." In a flash all four men were on the ground dead. Their leader's eyes widened in fear, and shock. All his men had deep slash marks on their chests, and their faces sliced as well.

"H-H-H-H-How is this possible! You were unarmed!"

"To the untrained eye," the young man said simply. "I told you I could beat your men with my eyes closed. Now it's your turn."

"Stay back!!" The leader exclaimed as he drew his sword, but there was no fear in the young man's eyes.

"Your sword is shaking, how do expect to beat me with such an unbalanced sword?" The leader gathered all his courage and charged head first. His sliver sword raised in the air, about to come down. Suddenly, though the man was gone!

"What the-!" The young man was suddenly behind him, with a small smirk on his face.

"Too bad," he whispered, and suddenly red flashed through the air. The pieces of the leader fell to the ground covered in his blood; the head of the leader still had the terrified look on its face.

Li took his sword, and rushed to where he felt the strong energy. He didn't bother to wake up Sakura and the others, since he knew they wouldn't last three seconds against something like this. The rushing of his steps echoed through the eerie darkness of the night. The cold feeling in his stomach rising and rising the closer he got. When he reached where the feeling was the strongest, his eyes widened. Five bodies were sprawled out on the ground, deep slash marks on their stomachs, and chests. Their faces were cut open, and one was sliced into four pieces. Their blood stained the dirt of the forest, and their sprits, he could feel their sprits, terrified, shocked, and petrified. His attention was turned when he heard a calm voice say his name.

"Well if it isn't Li," the voice said. Li looked behind him, and saw a young man about 19 look at him with his cold eyes. "Not exactly who I was looking for, but you'll do."

"How do you know me?" he asked with no fear in his voice.

"Your name has become quite widespread over time. Li, the one who defeated Tuigo, the one who finished the dark killer, Siga Miro. The one who killed the deadly Thunder Warriors, the one who busted the imfamous criminal Matena. Some even say you defeated two hundred demons with just one spell. Quite the accomplishments for someone your age." Li just smirked and said,

"Those bastards were easy."

"You say that now, but I bet while you were fighting them, it was a different story."

"Enough about me, just who the hell are you?! Did you kill these men?!"

"I apologize. I am called, Mudo."

"Mudo? Never heard of you."

"I am not surprised; I have been imprisoned for about a century. A century in limbo, do have any idea what's that like?" Mudo said with only a slight scowl in his voice.

"Actually I do. I have a feeling you must be pretty strong to survive a century in limbo. That place is supposed to be pure hell; every step you take it feels as though you're being cut in a hundred places at once, the air you breathe is filled with poison, lava everywhere. Not even the strongest demons can survive a year in there."

"I had fate on my side. Now that have escaped however, I plan to take my revenge on the one who imprisoned me," Mudo said.

'One person? For a demon of this caliber it would have taken at least fifty high ranking priests! How can one person seal up such a demon alone?' Li thought.

"I see you don't believe that one person managed to imprison me, but I could care less." Li's eyes widened in shock, but he quickly hid it.

'Did he just read my mind?' he asked himself. Mudo just smirked.

"No I didn't read your mind, your face and expressions says it all. You try to cover up your emotions, but such things are close to impossible for humans." Li growled, and readied his sword.

"I hope you can fight me as well as you fought those guys."

"Well then, I hope you live up to all those stories about you, Li," Mudo said with a slight chuckle.

"I plan to," Li replied. Mudo closed his eyes, and said,

"Very well then, I hope you're ready." In an instant Mudo was gone!

'Where is he?!' Li suddenly felt a cold feeling in stomach, coming from behind him. He then felt a strong heat, a heat that could easily melt away a glacier. Li trusted his feelings and quickly ducked. The incredible heat passed over him, and the chestnut haired boy quickly jumped away from the source. When he looked up he saw Mudo with a sword with a heated blade in his hands.

"I'm impressed kid, no one has ever dodged my first attack before," Mudo said.

"So that's it, you can create your own weapon," Li concluded.

"And I can do so much more," the demon said and suddenly shot towards Li. In half a second he was already nose to nose with the young man. Li gasped in pain when he felt an incredible force hit his stomach, he was suddenly on the ground when the same force struck his face. The young man clutched his cheek as he growled, and twitched in pain.

'Such strength! He could topple a mountain with that kind of power!' Li thought as he held his stomach.

"Come now I merely tapped you with my knee, and gave you a love tap with my fist," Mudo said in a slight disappointed tone. Li took a deep breath, and grasped his sword again.

"Don't think I'm finished yet, I've just started." Li charged in with a swift horizontal strike, sliver met with red as Mudo blocked just as swiftly. It felt as though Li was trying to push two boulders at once, no matter how much force he put behind his sword, Mudo just kept coming back with more. The chestnut haired boy jumped back, and came back with a quick downward strike. But Mudo easily eluded the attack, and countered with a strong jab that sent Li flying into the ground.

"You disappoint me boy. So far I am not impressed with your fighting; all those stories must be lies," Mudo said as he walked over to Li.

"I'm not through yet! Element Lighting!!!" The strong blast shot towards the warrior, but Mudo just put up his palm, and the blast was deflected into another direction. "Shit!"

"Is that the best you can do?" Li narrowed his eyes, but managed to stay calm. He raised his index finger, middle finger, and thumb.

"Take this, Force Know my Plight, Release the Light, LIGHTING!!!!" The powerful lighting attack raced towards the demon. Mudo just barely managed to dodge the attack. "No way!"

"I must say that was a powerful spell for a kid your age, now time to see one of mine," the demon said. Li readied himself for whatever was coming. Mudo smirked, and thrust his sword into the ground. The demon then cupped his hands together and started to chant.

'What is this guy? I know he's a demon, but I've never gone up against anything like him. All the demons I've faced are short tempered and head strong, but him. He's so focused so in tune with his objectives. How can I stop someone like that?' Li thought as he felt a strong magical energy forming.

"I hope your ready for this kid," Mudo said, and raised his cupped hands into the air. "Inferno Blaze!" In half a second, a powerful and large blast of fire magic was speeding towards Li. The young man's eyes widened, the magnitude of the blast was unparallel. The heat was inconceivable, even from afar; you could still feel the scorching blast. Li leaped into the air, and landed safely on a tree branch.

'That was close,' Li thought, but he suddenly heard a loud explosion. When he turned around he was in shock. There was an immense hole in the middle of the forest. All the trees around it were destroyed, and the black smoke covered the whole area around the hole.

"Holy shit," was all Li could say. Mudo just chuckled.

"I must have been imprisoned for long if my power has suffered that much. A century ago that blast would have destroyed the whole forest." Li jumped down from the branch and got himself ready for another attack.

"I hope your ready for this round, because I'm going to give it everything I got," Li said and held up his sword.

Sakura woke up with yawn when she felt a strong vibration from under her. Her drowsy eyes surveyed the setting around her. They were still in the same forest, and it nearly pitch black. If it weren't for the fire she would not have been able to see a thing. She heard the light snoring of Tomoyo, and the groaning of Kero in her pocket. Sakura was about to go back to sleep when she noticed two things, one Li wasn't around, and two there was black smoke rising from a part of the forest. Sakura gasped, and got up.

"What's going on Sakura?" Tomoyo asked with her eyes still closed.

"Oh it's nothing," Sakura replied know Tomoyo would be too caught up in sleeping to really worry about anything now. The emerald eyed girl rushed to towards the smoke, but as she got closer the cold feeling she usually got when there was trouble became even colder.

'What's going on I wonder,' she thought.

CLANG!!!!!!!

The sound echoed through the dark forest as the two fighters clashed. Mudo easily dodged Li's attacks, no matter how fast he stuck. Sliver met with red as the two swords met again.

"Give up kid, you know you can't beat me," Mudo said confidently. Li growled.

"Chew on this!" Suddenly a strong kick from Li stuck Mudo across his face, then while he was still stunned, Li attacked with a strong slash across his chest. Mudo countered with a kick of his own that sent Li flying into a tree.

"I must say kid that was quite the combo, I did not see it coming," the older man said as he felt the blood on his chest. "I have split the blood of many, but few have managed to spill my blood. I commend you on that, but, it shall not happen again."

"Doubt it," Li smirked, and charged in again. He brought down his sword only to have it pass right through a transparent and blurry image of his opponent.

'An after-image!' he thought quickly, and spun around. He managed to just barely dodge the red blade of the strong demon, and counter with a powerful jab to his ribs. Mudo's knee suddenly collided with Li's chin and sent him back a few steps.

"Balls of Inferno!" Mudo exclaimed, and held out his left palm. Countless small but powerful balls of fire shot towards the young man. Li managed to dodge most of them, but one grazed his sleeve, and it started to burn. In an instant Li threw off his robe reveling his upper body. "You're lucky kid you're so fast kid. Anything that attack touches instantly bursts into flames."

"Sorry, but my robes are protected by a strong spell that makes it unable to burn up," Li said confidently.

"You must be fond of that robe then."

"No, just do feel like getting another one." Mudo eyes caught the sight of a necklace Li had on. It wasn't a big jewel; it was a thin crystal blue diamond necklace.

"I see what an odd necklace, is it yours?" he asked.

"Why do you care?"

"Just curious I guess. You might as well answer before you die."

"I'd rather not."

"Fine, if that's what you want." The two suddenly ran out of the clearing and into a large cluster of trees. The swishing of their quick feet were their only signal that the other was still there. Li's quick eyes caught the fast sight of Mudo's red blade as it sliced through the air. The young man managed to just barely dodge; he had to be extra careful since he didn't have his robes.

"Balls of Inferno!" Li quickly back flipped to get away, but the entire area was on fire now. The loud roar of the flames seemed to surround him, and the smoke confused him constantly.

"Grrr, that bastard," Li growled.

"Confused?" Mudo asked as he walked through the smoke. The flames seemed to part as Mudo made his way towards the amber haired boy, like subjects making way for their king. "As fun as this has been, you are not my target, so I will end this fight now."

"Li!!!! Where are you? What's going on?" A voice shouted through the woods.

'Shit! Not her!' Li thought. Sakura made her way towards the flames, and saw strange sights. First she saw a young man only a couple of years older than Li, but she also saw Li and his amazing upper body.

"Holy cow," she whispered to herself with a slight blush.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the young man asked and walked past Li, towards her.

"Get out of here you moron!! He's too powerful!" Li shouted. Sakura found herself backing up as the man came closer to her. The emerald eyed girl was backed into a tree with the man right in front of her.

"You are quite beautiful for a child your age," he said as he held her cheeks with one hand. Sakura felt his rough hands on her smooth face; his heated hand sizzled as it touched her chilly cheeks.

"Element Water!" A strong blast of water shot towards the young man, but Mudo just put his hand and the water turned into steam as soon it touched it. Li leaped into air and threw out a swift sidekick. Mudo just smirked, and in one motion grasped Li's head, and slammed him into the ground.

"Li!" Sakura cried when she saw blood coming down the side of his head.

"You are quite the nuisance," Mudo said as he stood over Li. "I think I'll end you right now."

"Li!!!" Sakura cried when Mudo brought down his sword into the young man's shoulder. Blood flowed from his shoulder, and into the dirt.

"Sorry kid, as good as an opponent as you were, I just can't have anyone trying to stop me," Mudo said in his regular calm voice. The older man grabbed Li by his hair and started to throw rapid and powerful punches all over Li. The young man cough out blood when Mudo landed a powerful to his stomach, then he held him up in the air. Li opened one eye since the other was swollen shut, and felt the heat from Mudo's blade.

"Bastard," he whispered.

"Now die," Mudo said simply, and thrust his sword towards Li's heart.

"Li!!!" Sakura shouted. The blade stopped right when it was about to strike its target, because a bright, overwhelming light caught Mudo's eyes. Even Li managed to catch a sight of it. It was Sakura! The light seemed to brighten up everything around them, the shadows were parted, and the dark clouds that covered the stars were cleared away.

"What the hell is going on?" Li whispered. Sakura's hair became longer much longer, and she became taller as well. Her emerald eyes were narrowed, and her voice changed.

"What's this? This girl's power has risen greatly," Mudo said.

"Leave him alone," Sakura whispered.

'That light, that voice! The only difference is the face,' the demon thought. Mudo dropped the young man, and made his way towards the young girl.

"What happened to her?" Li asked no one.

"Well girl, you certainly have some of the characteristics of the one who sealed me up, but you aren't the one." Sakura stayed silent, and simply raised her palm at the demon. In flash, an extremely powerful wind came out of no where, and blew Mudo to the ground. A surprise expression failed to cross the face of the older man; he just got up and readied his sword.

"Stop," Sakura said emotionlessly.

"I'd rather not," Mudo said simply, and charged. Sakura held out her hands and a staff suddenly formed. It was pink with a slight scythe like blade on the end, with two red rubies on the side of the scythe. There was a loud Clang! As the two weapons met.

'How did she get that kind of power?' Li thought as he struggled to his feet.

"I must say, you are quite powerful, but I must end this," Mudo said simply, and held up his hand. Suddenly, a blast of pure fire blew Sakura into the ground. "Time to end this." Mudo held his sword over Sakura, but the young girl drew her card.

"I summon you, Watery," she whispered to the card. Once she said those words, water burst out of the card and wrapped itself around the demon.

'How could I have been so foolish?' Mudo thought with a slight scowl. He managed to break out the bind, but the water just curved around, and blasted Mudo back. Li was shocked; he had never seen Sakura use this kind of power, or that kind of powerful magical energy coming from just a card. Mudo seemed just as shocked, but the expression failed to reflect on his face.

'She blasted him back five feet with just water!' Li thought. Sakura walked with grace and fluency as she made her way towards Mudo. The Watery kept circling around her as she walked towards the demon.

"Interesting. What an attack, but I am not finished yet. Balls of Inferno." The rapid fireballs were easily deflected by Sakura's staff, and then the water sprit made its way towards the demon entangling him again.

"Give up," the emotionless girl said.

'If I keep going she will undoubtedly finish me. Quite the predicament.'

"Fine, I withdraw for now," the demon said, and the water sprit let him go. "However do not think you have defeated me, I shall be back to finish this." With that Mudo disappeared in a burst of flames. When he was gone, Sakura's eyes went back to normal, and her hair went to its normal length. The water sprit flew back into its card, and the light faded away along with Sakura's weapon. The girl looked around with a confused look on her face.

"Li what happened? What happened to that fire guy?" Li managed to snap out of his shocked trance, and went back to his normal self.

"Nothing, now come on." Sakura was about to when she spotted the necklace on him.

"What's that?" Li covered up the necklace with his hand, and picked up his robes.

"It's nothing." When he turned around, Sakura's eyes widened when she saw his back. There were two long and deep scars on both sides of his back. She was about to ask him but then she figured he wouldn't answer anyway so she just dropped it.

'What the hell just happened back there? First she was completely helpless then her magical powers just skyrocketed. But then it just disappeared without a trace like it was never there at all! What is it with this girl?' Li asked himself as he and Sakura walked back to camp.

'Those scars on Li's back, they don't look like he was just cut, they're too deep for that. How did he get those? And why does he have a necklace?' By the time the two got back, the sun was almost rising.

"Great, just great," was all Li said as he sat back against a tree trunk. Sakura laid back down on the sheets, and in only a few minutes the two were fast asleep.

Mudo walked with grace despite his wounds. He felt the cut that Li gave him during their fight, and the bruises he received from the water sprit.

'I was careless,' he thought as he felt the blood. 'If I had been more careful those two kids would have been dead.

"Lost didn't you?" a voice said from behind him.

"Who's there? Show, yourself," Mudo replied as he turned around. The figure stepped out of the darkness, and reveled a man with white hair, and a long black jacket. Mudo saw on his belt were a katana and a knife. Green met with blue as the two faced each other.

"I know of your fight with that boy," the man said.

"What is it to you?" Mudo asked calmly.

"I wish for you to join me."

"And what would I gain if joined you?"

"The power you need, I can make it so that you are no longer affected by the water sprit and make your powers even stronger than they were a centaury ago." Mudo thought for a minute, then agreed.

"All right, I agree, however I'd like to know the name of the one I am lending my skills to."

"I apologize, my name is Viga."

"Well then, Viga, you have yourself a deal."

AN: Things have just gotten interesting. What are Viga's plans for Mudo? Who is this Mudo guy anyway? Who sealed him up? How did Li get those scars? Where did he get that necklace? How did Sakura get all those powers in the first place? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Oh and thank you to all who reviewed. It's good to know that at least some people are reading this Fanfiction. And to Rapscallion, I don't mind long reviews at all, in fact I don't care how long reviews are just as long as you review. So once again thanks, and continue to support this fic. So, see you guys next chapter.


	16. Full Moon Terror

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 16

It was dark, and full of heat as Mudo followed Viga to his volcano castle. The fire demon looked around ready to form his sword in an instant if necessary, though he had to admit this was just the place for him. He followed the white haired fighter to his throne room, when they got there Mudo saw three other figures.

"Who's the new guy?" the thin figure asked.

"Everyone this is Mudo, Mudo these are my top generals," Viga introduced. "State your names."

"Erim, tactician," the thin one stated.

"Remina, the mistress of water," the blue haired figure said.

"Magura, katana expert," stated the spiked haired one.

"So is there anything you would like Mudo? Your own troops perhaps?" Viga asked.

"No thanks that will not be necessary. I only ask you for one thing."

"Which is?"

"Help me break the seal on my two companions, I'm sure they would love me and you."

"Very well then, the more fighters like you the better," Viga said.

"Excellent, and in return I promise to lead them as best as I can." Viga nodded, and the two shook hands. The deal was set.

Tomoyo sighed and stretched as the group walked through the woods. The morning sun peaked through the holes of the trees, the birds chirped their morning song, and the squirrels scurried up the trees. Tomoyo and Kero looked at Sakura and Li who looked as though they were up all night. Sakura yawned practically all morning while Li just had a sleepy look in his eyes.

"Tired you guys?" she asked them finally.

"You have no idea Tomoyo," Sakura replied with a soft groan.

"What were you guys doing all night? Or is something you'd like to keep to yourselves," she asked with a slight smirk, Sakura blushed furiously.

"Tomoyo!! It's nothing like that! We were fighting this strong demon!"

"Suuuuure."

"Tomoyo!" Li growled as he listened to them, his tiredness was shortening his short temper even more.

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!!!!" he finally snapped, the two girls were silent in an instant. It was silent for a few more minutes, an uneasy silence. Kero, who couldn't take the silence any more, flew up to Li.

"You yell like some old, tired, and withered old man," Kero joked, bad move. In an instant Kero kissed the dirt, and his body was squished when Li stepped on him while he was walking.

"Crappy stuffed animal," he mumbled. Sakura and Tomoyo looked at Kero squished figure and giggled. The yellow stuffed animal was knocked out cold, and had a large lump on his head.

"You should have known better Kero-chan," Tomoyo giggled as she picked the yellow beast. Sakura decided to approach Li to try to convince him to rest.

"Uh...Li..." she said timidly.

"What!" he snapped. Sakura looked at his eyes and saw the tired look in his eyes, she saw light bags under them to, he was indeed tired.

"Maybe we should take a break, and rest for little I mean we both were up all night fighting Mudo," she said.

"Forget it! I don't need to rest, I can go further," he replied with a growl.

"But you are tired, and plus none of us has had anything to eat all day, this can't be good for you," Sakura pushed.

"I said forget it!" Li shouted, and walked further ahead.

"You should have known better Sakura," Tomoyo commented.

'Who was that guy?' Li asked himself. 'He's too strong to be a normal demon. His fire powers are unlike anything I've seen before, and his techniques, they're flawless. I can see why he was only able to be sealed and not destroyed.' After a while the group found themselves on top of a small cliff with a river flowing at the bottom. Li simply jumped down and landed with grace, Sakura and Tomoyo slowly climbed down.

"So will we be rest here, since we won't be going on for a while," Tomoyo pointed out. Li didn't say anything; he just sat down with his back against a rock and stared at the flowing river. "I guess that's a yes."

'Mudo, who is he?' Li's mind wandered to the fight last night. None of his normal attacks did a thing, not even his best spell. Then he thought about how Sakura came along and made him surrender. 'What the hell is that girl? When Mudo was about to kill me I suddenly a felt an incredible power coming from her, but I've sensed it in her before. It just came out of no where, then there's that card. How the hell can so much water power come from one card?' Sakura looked at Li as she and Tomoyo made a fire to make a quick bowl of ramen.

'Those scars on Li's back,' she thought. 'They were anything but normal scars, when I saw them I got that cold feeling in my stomach and that usually means trouble. But Li isn't dangerous, sure he maybe a jerk at some times, but he's not evil.'

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Tomoyo asked.

"Oh, nothing," Sakura replied with a smile. Tomoyo just shrugged and continued with the fire.

'Then there's that necklace. I've never seen anything like it, the jewel may not have been big, but there just something about it that made me feel happy and warm inside. I'm sure it's not one of those deadly jewels I would have gotten that feeling again, but still what is it?' As Li stared at the river he didn't notice his eyes slowly drop, in a matter of minutes he was asleep.

When his amber eyes snapped open his eyes widened, it was dusk, the blue sky was now red, and the clouds were becoming orange. He growled, and looked at Sakura and Tomoyo who were sleeping as well.

"Hey!! Wake up!!!!" he shouted. The girls slowly opened their eyes and looked around.

"What's going on?" Tomoyo asked with a yawn. There was pure fury in Li's eyes as he looked at the setting sun. He made a fist, and if he had long nails they would have dug into his skin.

"Li, what's wrong?" Before they could answer they heard a loud scream coming from the cliffs. The group scanned the area, and saw a young girl. Her back was turned so she didn't see she was about to fall from the cliff as she backed up.

"What the hell is her problem? Some twisted game of hide and seek?" Kero asked.

"No Kero look!" Tomoyo exclaimed and pointed to a dark figure with red eyes coming towards her.

"Li do something!" Sakura said.

"Why do I have to do everything? Have stuffed animal save the damn girl, I'm not getting involved," he replied coldly. "Besides we have to get moving before nightfall." Sakura ignored him, and whipped out the watery.

'Let's hope this can do something,' she thought hopefully. "Watery!! I save that girl!!!" The card started to glow white, and suddenly woman on the card rushed out and headed towards the girl.

"Awesome Sakura!!!!" Tomoyo squealed. Kero's eyes just widened.

"Have I seen that before?" he asked himself. He started to see visions of the exact same thing happening, only it wasn't Sakura doing it, it was someone else. Their face was covered by a strong light as they summoned the water sprit. The demons that were surrounding them were soon trapped in a water cyclone, and the person just laughed as the cyclone blew them away.

"Well that was easier than I thought, how about you Cerberus?" The vision suddenly ended there and Kero found himself back at the cliffs. He saw the girl fall, and the watery save her by wrapping itself around her, and gently setting her down.

"Element lighting!" Li's lighting attack managed to scare off the demon that was after her.

"Hey I thought you said you weren't getting involved!" Sakura said.

"I needed the target practice," he replied with a scoff. The group approached the girl who had her eyes closed. She had long black hair, and her clothes were very simple, it was even torn in some places. When she opened her brown eyes she saw two girls and a young man with a sword and odd clothing staring at her. Her eyes widened when she saw Kero. She let out a loud scream.

"AHHH!!!! A demon!!!!" she screamed with all her might, and threw a rock at him. Kero was knocked out cold with yet another lump on his head.

"Did I miss something?" he asked in a daze. Li covered her mouth to keep her from screaming.

"What the hell is your problem!? We just saved your ass from the real demons!"

"Yeah, there's no need to fear Kero-chan miss," Tomoyo said.

"Kero-chan, you're actually fond of that monster?" she asked when Li uncovered her mouth.

"Kero-chan isn't a monster he's our friend," Sakura said.

"More like some damn mascot," Li mumbled.

"Hey I heard that!" Kero shouted when he got up.

"Good maybe I wanted you hear it!!" Li shot back. The girl just sweatdropped when she saw them arguing.

"Please excuse them, they do this all the time," Sakura said. "So what's your name?"

"My name is Samio," she replied. "Thank you for saving me, but please excuse me I have to get back to the temple." When she got up she felt an amazing pain from his ankle, she fell back down groaning in pain.

"That fall must have twisted your ankle, but we'll help you back," Tomoyo said kindly.

"Thank you," Samio replied.

"Hey Li, Kero we're helping out Samio here!" Sakura shouted. Li and Kero seemed to ignore her and continue with their argument. "They'll come along eventually."

The group arrived at a small Buddhist temple with an elderly monk waiting at the entrance. Behind him were many monks crouched down in prayer, praying towards a large Buda statue. The old man smiled when saw Samio being helped by the small group.

"Ah Samio, I had a feeling you'd come to us," the old man said with a wrinkly smile.

"Grandpa! I was so scared," the girl exclaimed as she gave her grandfather a hug. Li growled as he looked at the setting sun, he looked at Kero, who shared the same concern in his eyes.

"I thank you for helping my granddaughter. To show you my gratitude I shall give shelter, and food for the night," the old man offered. Sakura and Tomoyo had stars in their eyes.

"Of course!"

"NOT!!!!" Li shouted. "We don't have anytime to waste, we have to go!"

"Li, what's your problem, you're acting more uptight than usual," Sakura said

"Please I insist, my students will seal up the temple so no demons can pass." Li growled louder, pure fury in his eyes. His fist tightened more as the light of the sun grew fainter, and fainter.

"Fine!" he shouted finally and stomped into the temple.

"What's his problem?" Sakura wondered.

"PMS?" Tomoyo figured.

Sakura and Tomoyo munched down the food the monks brought, Li on the other hand barely touched his food, and kept looking at the window at the full moon. He gripped his sword tighter, and growled.

"How do you like the food?" Samio asked.

"It's great!" Sakura exclaimed.

"It sure beats ramen every night," Tomoyo said. Kero munched on the rice balls like he hadn't eaten in three days, but he still had that look of concern on his face like Li.

"Hey Samio, are there any demons around here?" Kero asked. Samio nodded.

"There are, they come out at night, and they're very vicious. They destroyed my village that used to be here a couple of months ago, luckily my grandfather managed to save before I was killed by their leader."

"Oh," Kero said simply.

"Don't worry though, I'm sure my grandfather's and his students' seals will ward them off for the night," she reassured them with a smile, then walked out.

"I hope they do, I don't want to up all night fighting again," Sakura said as she drank the soup.

'Damn, I have a bad feeling about tonight,' Li thought.

"Grandpa, I have some soup for you," Samio called as she entered the main hall. "Grandpa?" the girl knocked on her grandfather's door, but all she heard was a groan. She dropped the food, and rushed into the room. She found her grandfather on the floor with a deep slash mark on his side.

"Oh, Samio I've failed. My seals are as old and withered as I am," he said weakly. "They've come, get our guests out." Samio nodded, and ran to their room as fast as she could.

The small group were in a deep sleep, Li was in the corner, only half sleeping. (if that's even possible.) His held his sword tightly as he slept, but he could get to sleep. He suddenly opened both eyes when he felt something, it was faint but it was still there. The darkness of the room hid everything from his sight, but suddenly he heard a loud snarl and the swish of claws. Li leaped from his spot, and landed right behind Sakura and the others. Red eyes, that's all he saw, countless red eyes, they were all outside. The demons slowly approached the room. They walked on all fours, and had sharp fangs. Their blue skin blended in with dark night, whip-like tails swished behind them, along with their long hair as they rushed forward.

"Wake up your morons!!!!" Li shouted as he drew his sword. "We got trouble!" Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero all slowly opened their eyes only to be met with hundreds of red eyes.

"Aw man!!!" Kero shouted.

"Guys, those demons are here!" Samio exclaimed as she barraged in, only find Li already fighting them.

"Yeah thanks for stating the obvious!" Li said as he kicked one into an approaching group. The demons refused to give up, they slashed their way through the doors and all headed for the room.

"You guys can't fight them all here!" Samio said.

"No shit!" Li replied, and pulled out one his talismans. "Element, Lighting!" The spell knocked back more demons, but more took its place. That's when Sakura noticed something different, usually when Li used that spell it would have gotten a lot more demons than that, even his normal punches and kicks seemed weaker for some reason.

'What's going on?' she asked herself.

"Sakura behind you!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Sakura spun around and saw three demons heading her way. Sakura quickly dodged a slash from one, and managed to kick him into the two that were coming.

"Nice kick!" Kero commented. A yell from Li made them turn their attention back to him. The demons were surrounding him, slashing, and biting the young man until he was on the ground.

"Get away from him!" Sakura shouted, and blew them all outside.

"Come on, we have to get outta here!" Samio said. "I know a secret way." Sakura and Tomoyo picked Li and helped him out. The demons however were all in the trees and bushes as they made it outside. All of them seemed to leap out of no where as they rushed out of the temple. Ten lunged at them from tree branches, but Kero quickly put up a shield to protect them. However when the demons made contact with the shield it pushed them all back. The group back stepped and headed another way. They managed to find safety in a clearing far from the temple and the demons.

"That was close," Tomoyo breathed with relief. Sakura set Li against a tree as she sat down. Kero collapsed in her lap, more tired than he usually would.

"Li, are you all right?" Sakura asked.

"Leave me alone!!!" he shouted as he turned away. Sakura finally had enough with his attitude.

"What's the matter with you!? You've been acting like a major jerk all day! You didn't want to help Samio, then you didn't even want to stay at the temple, and now you bite my head off just because I wanted to see if you were okay! What is your problem?!"

"I've lost all my powers that what!!" Li shouted back. Everyone's eyes widened.

"What? How could you lose all your powers?" Tomoyo asked in shock.

"You have to be joking!" Samio said.

"No, he's telling the truth," Kero told them. "I lost all my powers too."

"How did this happen?" Sakura asked. Li just turned away with a scoff, while Kero explained.

"Well Sakura, there's three major types of magic, sun, moon, and star. Sun magicians are strong in elemental magic, moon magicians have strong supernatural powers, and star magicians have more defensive types of magic."

"What does this have to do with you guys losing your powers?"

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, each type of magic user has their own periods of weakness, where they lose all of their powers and abilities. Now as you may have guessed both Li and I have sun magic, which means our period of weakness is the full moon."

"So you mean every time there's a full moon you guys lose all your powers?" Tomoyo asked. Kero nodded, and continued.

"That's not all though, the full moon is also when moon magicians' powers are at their strongest!"

"Do those demons count?" Tomoyo asked.

"Unfortunately for us yes," Kero replied.

"No wonder Li couldn't beat them!" Sakura just huffed, and went up to Li.

"Why didn't you tell us you time of weakness was tonight, if we'd had known that then we never would have stayed at the temple!" Sakura exclaimed. "You would think after all we've been through you would start trusting us more!"

"Well I don't! I can't just go blabbing every one my secrets to everyone!"

"But we're your friends, your allies, you can trust us." Li just scoffed.

"Spare me. I don't care if you guys travel with me, I still wouldn't have told you guys a thing."

"Why not!?" Li looked into her eyes and saw that she was really hurt, and confused about all this. Unfortunately for her, Li didn't care one bit.

"I don't need this shit, I'm going back there," Li said as he got up.

"But you don't have any of your powers! You wouldn't stand a chance!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Yeah you need us to protect you!" Sakura added.

"I don't need you, I don't need anybody," Li said coldly and walked off. Unknown to the group, a figure was watching the whole exchange with eagle eyes. The moonlight reveled it to be Mudo!

"So every full moon huh."

Samio's grandfather searched the group's room with hopeful eyes, but was soon disappointed.

"Damn it! Where are they!" he growled as he tore the whole room upside down. The monks were all behind him watching the rear for any intruder.

"Looking for these?" Li asked slyly from behind him. When the old man turned around he saw Li with the Kamikaze necklace and the Gem of Inferno in his hands.

"You! But how?"

"That was quite the performance when first got here. You knew we had two jewels so you put on this whole monk charade just to put us in a sense of false security. Then when we were asleep you would try to get your goons to kill us and take the jewels, just to make your collection three," Li concluded.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Cut the shit old man, I know your aren't really Samio's grandfather you killed her grandfather a long time ago, you were just waiting for the right moment to kill her, why I don't know." The old man growled, and looked at the monks behind Li.

"Don't just stand there! Kill Him!!!!!" the eyes of the monks became red, and they transformed into their demon forms.

"Damn it!" Li growled, and just barely dodged a kick from one of them. The young man drew his sword, and jumped back. The demons surrounded the young man with their fangs and tails ready to slice Li to bits. The young man leaped out of the circle and kicked a demon as he landed, but it barely did a thing.

"Was that supposed to hurt or something?" the demon laughed.

'Damn it! I lost my strength too!' Li's eyes widened when he felt his shoulder being torn open, the young man fell face first into the ground. He saw his blood leave a trail behind him, and the old man in front of him with a smirk on his face. Li tried to grab his sword, but the old man kicked it away.

"It was foolish of you to come after me without your powers," he said. Li looked over him and saw a bracelet on his left wrist. The sliver glistened in the darkness, and the smaller moon jewels jiggled together as the old man laughed. "And now it's time to end this." The old man opened his wide mouth to revel his long sharp fangs. Li growled, and tried to move, but his shoulder was too damaged for him to do anything.

"Leave him alone!" a voice shouted, and the man was blown outside. Sakura, Tomoyo, Samio, and Kero rushed to Li's aid.

"Leave me alone!" he growled weakly. Sakura ignored him and helped him up.

"Grandfather, what's the meaning of this?" Samio asked.

"You stupid girl! I am not your grandfather! My name is Hido, and I want the jewels!!!!" Hido's eyes became red; his fingernails became nine inch killing machines. His ears became longer and pointed, and his tan skin became a grayish blue. His chest became broader, and it tore up the top part of his robes reveling his muscular chest, and a long whip-like tail sprouted out from his lower backside. "Now you shall all die!!!!" Hido suddenly rushed towards the group, his fangs ready to sink themselves into their skin. Sakura and the others tried to dodge, but the monster was too swift. In an instant he knocked Li out of Sakura's grasp and knocked him into the floor.

"Li!!!" Sakura shouted. The young man tried to grab his sword, but the pain in his shoulder was too much for him to even move it. Suddenly it felt as though his leg was caught in ten bear traps at once. Li cried out in pain when Hido's fangs sank into his leg, and into his bone.

"Let go of me you red eyed bastard!" he shouted. The demon's response was just putting more pressure into the bite. Suddenly a sickly loud CRACK!!! Was heard. The young man yelled with all his might, Hido had bitten the bone of his leg clean in half.

"Damn!!" Kero gasped. Li was thrown into the wall with blood from his shoulder and leg mixing together. He gripped his leg tightly as he moaned in pure pain.

"Now to finish you," Hido laughed. Sakura and Tomoyo tried to run to Li's aid, but the other demons held them back along with Samio and Kero.

'Aw shit!' Li thought.

"Time to die!!!!"

AN: Can Li and the others survive this night? Will Li be able to defeat this demon without the use of his powers? Can Sakura save him? How powerful are Mudo's three other men? How powerful are Viga's men? How did Li get those scars on his back? Who really did seal up Mudo? So many questions, so little answers. I love it! It keeps you, the readers wanting more; at least I hope it does. Anyway, be sure to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels to find out their fates. See ya!!!


	17. Lunar vs Wind

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 17

"Time to die!!!" the demon Hido shouted as he rushed towards the powerless Li. Sakura and Tomoyo struggled to break free, but the demons' grip was too tight for them. Li was still clutching his leg, the bone had been broken clean in half by Hido's fangs, so he was unable to move. His right arm was useless as well, his shoulder had been torn open, and the blood was surrounding him. Li just cursed at himself for being so foolish.

'I should have killed him when I had the chance,' he thought.

"Li move!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Block, fight back, dodge, do something!!" Tomoyo shouted.

"It's useless!!! Now you die!!!" Li growled, and pushed himself to grab his sword with his left hand. When he felt the rough edges of the hilt against his hand he gripped it with all his might. The chestnut haired boy could feel the demon's breath on his neck; he gripped the sword tighter and jumped into the air.

'It's now or never!' he thought. "Take this you bastard!!" With that he hurled his sword towards the demon. The sword whizzed through the air as it made its way towards Hido. The demon turned around only to have the sword impair itself in his stomach.

"Nice one!" Sakura and Tomoyo exclaimed in unison. Li groaned as he hit the ground. The demons that were restraining the girls and Kero rushed to their master's aid.

"Come, there's a small shrine house behind the temple, we might be able to hide there until sunrise," Samio whispered to them. The girls helped Li up, but the young man just pushed them away saying he could walk on his own. However, the girls helped him anyway. As the demons looked over their wounded master, Mudo was watching the whole thing from above.

'How very foolish of him,' he thought as he followed them to the shrine house.

OOOO

The group groaned when they reached the shrine house, Li just went into a corner and sat down, but he soon started to roll over in pain.

"Li's what's wrong!?" they all asked.

"It's his wounds, they must cause him indescribable pain," Samio figured.

"Well we have to patch him then," Tomoyo suggested.

"Leave me alone, I don't need anybody to take of me," he growled and tried to stand up, but soon fell over because of his leg. Sakura huffed, and went up to him.

"Why are you being so stubborn all of a sudden!? We're only trying to help you, and you're just making things worse!" Sakura scolded. "If you hadn't been so stubborn you probably wouldn't be so injured, and we'd be outta here by now!" Li just scoffed.

"I never needed anyone before, I don't need anyone now, this'll all be over as soon I get my powers back," he said as he felt the wound on his shoulder.

"All that blood though, it can't be good, if you don't get it patched up you'll probably die of blood loss," Samio informed him. Li made a tight fist, but finally agreed.

"Fine," he said reluctantly, and took of the top part of his robes. Tomoyo's and Samio's eyes widened when they saw scars on Li's back.

"How did you get those?" Tomoyo whispered.

"None of you business! Now patch up the wound so I can get this over with!" Li snapped. Samio got up and opened a closet that had bandages and other medicines.

"Wow that's covenant," Tomoyo said.

"Yeah this also the place where we put our medicines," Samio informed her. When she was ready, she took a damp cloth and slowly cleaned off all the blood around the wound, she was amazed someone his age was able to survive receiving such a wound, not only that, but he was able to live through getting his bone getting bitten in half. He was clearly not an average warrior.

"So how can we beat a demon like Hido?" Tomoyo asked as she and Sakura started a fire.

"I dunno," Kero replied. "Not only are his powers strengthened from the full moon, but he had the Lunar Bracelet which will give another major power boost."

"But didn't Li get him with his sword, I mean it's hard to survive getting a sword through your stomach," Sakura said.

"Don't be stupid," Li scoffed. "He's alive, I can feel him. I only did that to buy me some time."

"So what do we do?" Tomoyo asked.

"Sakura do you think you can take this demon?" Kero asked her. Sakura shrugged.

"I'm not sure, I mean I do have this Watery card, and that's gotten us out of a few jams. But I'm not sure how strong it'll be against a demon like that."

"Sakura you can do it," Tomoyo rooted.

"You wouldn't last five minutes," Li scoffed. "Have you even been in a real one on one demon battle?"

"That doesn't mean I can't try!" Sakura shot back.

"You'll just get yourself killed; you could barely handle my training, what makes you think you can go up against such a powerful demon?"

"Lay off Li," Tomoyo said. "Sakura can at least try."

"She'd probably last longer than you!" Kero chuckled, but soon kissed the ground.

"As soon as Samio is finished I'm going back there."

"You're crazy! You have a bone in your leg that's been bitten in half, and a torn open shoulder! How can you fight like that!?" Sakura exclaimed.

"I have my ways."

"Li don't make your injuries worse. If you go back you come back with a missing stomach or something. It's better if you stay here," Tomoyo advised.

"Better my ass. That bastard still has my sword in him, and I want it back," Li said simply.

"If you put anymore damage on that leg, it'll be broken beyond repair," Samio informed him. Li scoffed, and carefully stood up; he was soon on the floor again holding his leg.

"Damn it!" he swore loudly.

"See, how do you expect to fight with such a leg?" Sakura asked him. Li was about to answer, but then Kero called out to them.

"Uh...guys we got trouble," he said nervously, and pointed out the window. Outside the demons were slashing everything in sight; their red eyes glowed as they looked around in the darkness. A demon went up to Hido and whispered something in his ear. The leader growled, as pulled out Li's sword. The demon then hurled it at a tree and stomped off.

"Looks like they're looking for us," Tomoyo concluded.

"What do we do?" Samio asked.

"The question is what can we do?" Kero wondered. Li pushed himself to stand up, his broken leg hovering over the ground. The group looked towards Sakura as she opened the door.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Li asked.

"I'm going to try and stop that thing. You and Kero can't fight, so you might as well stay with Tomoyo and Samio. I can do this Li, trust me." Li scoffed.

"Too bad for you I don't. Go ahead, get yourself killed, see if I care," Li replied coldly, and sat down. Sakura huffed, and walked out.

"Do you think it was wise to let her go on her own?" Tomoyo asked.

"I don't care. She can do whatever the hell she wants."

'Sakura-chan please be careful,' Tomoyo thought.

OOOO

"This getting quite interesting," Mudo said to himself as he watched Sakura make her way towards the demons.

"Mudo, you have lingered here for quite a while," a voice stated from behind him.

"Viga, what are you doing here, I thought the only reason you descended from your castle is to fight the kid."

"I came because it is Syaoran's time of weakness."

"So you want to fight him now is that it?"

"No, to see how he fairs, especially with his new companions."

"I see," Mudo said simply as he watched Sakura slowly walk.

"You seem to have an interest in that girl," Viga pointed out.

"Yes, she is quite an odd one. During my fight with Li her magic energy was very low, but when I was about to finish him, it suddenly sky rocketed," Mudo explained.

"Perhaps she did intentionally," Viga figured.

"No I doubt that, I would have sensed her real power even if she was hiding it. Not only that, but she seemed to turn into a completely different person."

"Ah, I see that is quite strange."

"So, do you wish to place a wager on this fight?" Mudo asked.

"I must decline unfortunately. I refuse to place any wager for someone I have never seen fight before," Viga said emotionlessly.

"Suit yourself," Mudo said simply.

OOOO

Sakura carefully made her way through the forest, taking full attention to her steps as she made her way towards the clearing. She was sure if she took the bracelet from Hido it would decrease his powers, but how? The amber haired girl hid behind a tree, and saw the demons in the clearing. She managed to pick up on their conversation.

"Damn it, if we don't get those two other jewels back then Erim will have our heads!" one demon exclaimed.

"Don't worry, that kid is powerless, all we have to do is find him then make him talk," another one said.

"You fool, that's easier said that done. That kid managed to impair master Hido with his sword, and that was without his powers!"

"Silence both of you!" Hido exclaimed. "We'll get that kid, one way or another!" Sakura looked, and saw that Hido was wearing the bracelet, he also had Li's sword with him.

'I know Li would want that back,' Sakura thought. When she took one step forward a loud dry snap of a twig reached the ears of all the demons. In a matter of seconds all the demons surrounded her.

"How very foolish of you girl," Hido said, but then he smirked. "You will however provide us with the information we want. Where are the two other jewels!?"

"I'll never tell you!" Sakura exclaimed as she stepped back, but she soon ran into more demons. Their red eyes broke through the darkness of the night, their fangs crying for her blood, and their claws were ready to slice her to bits at any moment.

"Well then if you won't tell us, we'll just have to kill you. Boys," Hido said simply, and raised his fingers. "Have fun." With that the demon snapped his fingers, and all the demons surrounding her all leaped towards her. The cold feeling in Sakura's stomach exploded, and froze her whole body. Sakura couldn't move, she couldn't bring herself to defend herself, but then she remembered what Li said.

_You wouldn't last five minutes Have you even been in a real one on one demon battle? _

_You'll just get yourself killed; you could barely handle my training, what makes you think you can go up against such a powerful demon?_

The freezing feeling Sakura had suddenly disappeared, and she thrust out her hands blowing away the monsters coming after her.

'I can do this! I'll prove that I can stop this demon! I will!' The demons were on their feet in an instant and shot towards Sakura again. The girl reached into her pocket, and pulled out the Watery.

"Watery! I summon you, stop these demons!!" Sakura exclaimed. The card started to glow, and then water blasted out in every direction, blasting all the demons away in a matter of seconds. Sakura smirked when she saw all the demons fly off, now she confident she could do this.

"That was quite the spell for a girl your age," Hido said with a smirk. "But, that spell won't do you any good against me." Sakura stepped back as his tail swished from side to side as he walked. "I ask you again, where are the jewels?!"

"I'll never tell you!" Sakura exclaimed. Hido just smirked, and replied.

"Too bad." Suddenly his tail rushed out of no where towards the young girl. Sakura quickly dove out of the way, but his tail managed to cut her shoulder a little. When she turned around she saw his tail go through thick tree bark like it was paper.

"Holy cow," she whispered. As the tree fell down Hido rushed towards her, Sakura quickly jumped back when she saw the black blur of his tail heading her way. Sakura threw out a sidekick towards his chest, but it felt like she just hit pure metal when she made contact. She quickly pulled back her leg, but she was suddenly in Hido grip. The demon wrapped a hand around her small neck and started to apply pressure.

"You should have known better girl. I have the powers of the Lunar Bracelet, and the full moon on my side. No mere girl can defeat me!"

"Try this then!" Sakura gagged, and used a strong blast of wind to push him back far enough to catch her breath. The amber haired girl watched as Hido was blown into a large group of trees, the trees then fell all over him.

'That should buy me some time, but how long? He's so strong! Those two ninja brothers don't even come close to his powers!' Sakura thought as she got up.

'I have to take away that bracelet somehow, but how? I'm not even sure Watery will be enough.' Suddenly the trees were all knocked aside, and Hido emerged with bruises on his chest and face.

"A good, but desperate maneuver girl. I'm tried of this game. Tell me where the jewels are now!!!"

"I'm not telling you!" Sakura shouted without hesitation. In a flash Hido's tail was shooting towards her again, Sakura quickly leaped into the air, but Hido was behind her in an instant. As soon as the girl turned around, she was knocked back into the ground by a powerful fist to her back. Sakura slid through the ground, her eyes were squeezed shut, and her body tensed waiting for this to be over. When she finally stopped she was in front of a stick. Sakura slowly picked it up, not fully thinking about how powerful Hido was. When she got up, the demon was right behind her, and grabbed her by the collar.

"Last chance girl tell me where the jewels are!!!" Sakura grunted, and raised her stick ready to strike, but Hido knocked away easily. "You didn't really think that that little stick was going to save you did you?" Sakura didn't answer, so Hido tossed her aside.

'I have to think of something!' she thought. 'I'm all out of ideas though! What do I do!?'

"Time to die girl," Hido said coldly as he positioned his tail over her. Sakura wasn't sure how, but suddenly everything seemed to freeze. The darkness and glom of the night seemed to fade to some kind of light. Sakura could suddenly hear a voice, a soft comforting voice.

"Sakura you can do this," the voice whispered. "I can help you." The young girl could suddenly feel a hand on her head, and another hand taking hers.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"A friend," the voice replied. "Now take the stick before you, and put your wind powers into it."

"I don't understand," Sakura said.

"You will, trust me," the voice replied, and suddenly disappeared, along with the light. Everything started to move again, and Hido's tail was heading straight for her. Sakura decided to trust the voice and took the stick in her hands. The girl turned around, and put some of her wind powers into it. She closed her eyes and expected his tail to go right through her, but it didn't, instead she heard a loud clang! When she opened her eyes she gasped. In her hands was a brightly colored staff with a slight scythe like blade on the top with two red rubies on both ends. Hido's tail bounced off the staff, saving Sakura.

"Awesome," Sakura whispered.

OOOOO

Li's eyes shot towards the window when he saw something.

"What is it Li?" Tomoyo asked sleepily.

"Look out the window," he said simply. Tomoyo carefully stepped over Samio and Kero who were sleeping soundly, and looked out the window. She gasped when she saw a small bright light coming from where Sakura went. It was the same light from when Sakura changed when the two ninja brothers attacked them.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"I dunno I wish I did, but without my powers I can feel anything. All we can do now is wait," Li replied.

'Sakura-chan,' Tomoyo thought.

OOOO

"Quite impressive," Mudo said as he watched.

"Yes, now I know what you meant, her powers have gone up considerably. I believe we're in for quite the show."

"Would you like to place a wager now?"

"Not yet, let's just watch for now."

"Very well."

OOOO

Sakura stared in awe at her new weapon; she had no idea she could do that before. A new surge of confidence surged through her, now she was ready.

"One weapon isn't going to save you girl!" Hido exclaimed as his tail shot forward again. Sakura quickly jumped to side and rushed towards the demon. She brought down her weapon, but Hido dodged swiftly, and countered with a jab to her side. Sakura flipped over regaining her balance, and rushed forward. As she ran, she suddenly saw a thin black blur heading her way at an amazing pace.

'That's his tail,' a voice whispered to her. 'It'll fake a left turn, and then come towards your right.' Sakura decided to trust the voice she was hearing, and dodged to the left avoiding the attack.

"What! How!" Hido exclaimed. Sakura leaped towards the demon, and brought down her weapon. The demon quickly jumped back, and countered by elbowing the young girl in her stomach. Sakura went down to a knee, but managed to slash Hido across his chest. Blood shot of the long wound as the demon stepped back.

'That has to slow him down!' Sakura thought, but her eyes widened when Hido got to his feet easily.

"That was a good attack, but I have one of my own," Hido chuckled, and raised his hand into the air. "Take this girl, Lunar Blast!" When he lowered his hand a white blast shot towards the young girl. Sakura's eyes widened, she had no idea what to do. Automatically she put up her staff when the blast was about to hit her, the young girl suddenly heard the blast bounce off in another direction. She looked around and saw there was a shield around her.

"Cool," she whispered. Hido growled and leaped into the trees. Sakura's ears picked up on his swishing as he leaped from tree to tree. The girl tried to catch a glimpse of the demon, but all she saw were countless blurs.

"Let's see if you can find me when I move this fast!" he laughed. Sakura looked around constantly, but she couldn't see him, he was moving too fast. Hido jumped out from a tree that was behind her, and poised his tail for an attack. In an instant, the tail shot towards Sakura at an alarming rate.

"Where is he?" she mumbled to herself. Suddenly, her stomach felt like it was on ice, everything became slow, and dark. Sakura looked around, and saw nothing, but her eyes widened when something go right through her shoulder.

"Gotcha!" Hido chuckled. Sakura cried out in pain, and clutched her shoulder. She could feel her hand covered in blood, and it seemed to keep coming more she tried to cover it. The demon jumped out from behind her again, but this time came down with a slash from his claws. His claws tore through the skin on her back like tissue, blood shot out of the deep wound like a fast flowing river, and landed on the face of the demon. Sakura cried out again, it felt like pure fire was passing through her back, and the pain would stop either. The young girl fell to her knees with tears of pain rolling down her cheeks.

'It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!' she thought frantically.

"Now to finish this," Hido chuckled, as he licked the blood from his claws. The demon shot towards the aching girl with a smirk on his face as he raised his claws towards her neck. Sakura suddenly felt someone take her hands and help her up. All the pain seemed to fade away, and Sakura picked up her weapon. The young girl spun around and swung her staff towards the approaching demon.

"Take this!" she exclaimed. A powerful wind blew Hido back into two trees, but Sakura wasn't through yet. The girl sped towards the demon, slashed him across his stomach. Hido was on the ground in a matter of seconds, and Sakura fell to her knees panting. When she saw Hido wasn't moving, she slowly made her way towards his wrist, and pulled off the bracelet. As she walked back to the shrine house she picked up Li's sword, and used her staff to help her walk, she was just so tired. 'And that makes three.'

OOOO

"Well that was very entertaining, a good way to spend the night," Mudo said as he got up.

"Wait it's not over yet," Viga pointed out.

"Oh, really. I fail to see how this fight isn't over."

"You'll see eventually," Viga replied simply as he looked at the sky.

OOOO

There was a loud knock at the door. Tomoyo jumped towards the door, and smiled brightly when she saw Sakura in the doorway.

"Sakura-chan!!!" she exclaimed as she gave her a tight hug.

"Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow!!! Tomoyo!" Sakura groaned.

"Oh sorry," the raven haired girl said and let her go. Kero and Samio slowly opened their eyes, and Sakura standing there.

"Sakura! So how did it go?" Kero asked. Sakura just held up the bracelet triumphantly. "Awesome!" Li just rolled his eyes as he slowly got up, and took back his sword.

"It's about time, I was beginning to think you had died," he said simply. Sakura huffed. He didn't even say a good job, but then again she should be used to that by now.

"Wait, Li, where are the jewels anyway?" Tomoyo asked.

"Under the floor boards where you two were sleeping," he answered with his eyes closed. "As soon as I knew Samio's grandpa was a demon I hid them so when the demons attacked they wouldn't find them. Then when we got away I wanted to go get them back."

"But why didn't you take us with you?" Sakura asked. Li just scoffed.

"I was just going in and out, I figured it wasn't a big deal, but those bastards were more powerful than I first thought," he replied as he felt the cast on his shoulder.

"Hey look, the sun is coming up," Samio pointed out, Sakura just groaned.

"Another all nighter! I'll never get a good night's sleep at this point!" The others couldn't see it, but a small smirk appeared on Li's face when he saw the sun.

'Finally this damn night is over!' he thought, but his eyes turned towards outside. The young man got up, and used his sword to help him walk.

"What is it Li?" Sakura asked.

"You moron, you didn't finish the job," Li said coldly and walked outside. Outside was Hido standing in the open with two deep slash marks on his chest and stomach. The demon growled, and snarled when he saw the group walk out.

"You bastards! I'll kill you all, and get my jewel back!" he exclaimed. Li chuckled a little.

"You dumb-ass, you should have came before sunrise," the young man said. Hido was stumped, and asked,

"Why not?" Li raised his thumb, index finger, and middle finger as his reply.

"Force know my plight, release the light-"

"Oh no!" Hido shouted, and tried to run, but it was too late.

"Lighting!!!" Out of no where a powerful bolt of lighting struck the demon. Hido felt the electricity enter his body from his wounds, and it started to tear him apart from the inside out. In a matter of seconds, Hido was nothing but dust. "Game Over."

OOOO

Mudo chuckled as he watched them.

"Well that was interesting, it kept me from being bored all night," Mudo said as he got up. "I'll head back to the castle and check your men's progress on finding my comrades." With that Mudo disappeared in a burst of flames. Viga just watched as Li walked back into the shrine house.

"Another time, Syaoran," he whispered with a dark smile, and disappeared.

OOOO

When the sun fully rose, the group decided that now was a good time leave. Li's shoulder wound was surprisingly healed already and his broken leg was already healed enough for him to walk. Sakura was still a little tired, but she figured she would rest when they got to the next town. Samio managed to heal her wounds, and give her an ointment for the pain.

"Well, good luck in your travels," Samio said.

"Yeah whatever," Li replied dryly, and started to walk.

"Thanks for everything," Tomoyo thanked. Sakura stayed silent, she was still curious at how she created that staff, and overcame that pain when Hido sliced her back. It was like something, or someone was guiding her through the whole thing.

'Who, who was it?' she thought.

"Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.

"Oh, thanks, Samio," Sakura said softly, and with that the small group left. Unknown to them there was something behind them.

"Sakura," it said softly.

AN: Ah, yet another mystery to the long list of mysteries in this fic. I hope you guys liked this chapter it took me a while to finish. A Sakura chapter I guess, I did need to give her, her first one on one demon battle eventually. So anyway, who was voice that was guiding Sakura? Who are Mudo's men? And how powerful is Sakura? Maybe you'll find out in the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!


	18. Danger in the Snow

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 18

"So the brats have three of the jewels now?" Erim asked his servant. He was currently away from Viga's castle and in his smaller castle in his northern area. The tactician was sitting on his throne sipping a glass of wine when his servant gave him the news.

"How is it possible that Hido failed?"

"It seems that the girl, Sakura has more power than we first thought." Erim sighed and slipped more of his wine.

"I never did like him anyway; he was so full of himself, him and his men. What is there location now?" he asked.

"They are currently heading towards the mountains sir."

"Excellent, make sure they stay on that course, I have a few surprises underway," Erim chuckled.

OOOO

"Jeez how has it gotten so cold all of a sudden?" Sakura asked as she shivered.

"I don't know, the last couple of towns we've been in, it was warm enough to be summer," Tomoyo replied. The small group was slowly making their way across a dirt path; small trees were growing along the path with some flowers as well. Even though the sky was clear, and the sun beaming down on them, it was still cold. Sakura and Tomoyo were wrapped in their winter jackets, but that wasn't enough.

"You're lucky Kero-chan, you're made up of fur, you must be warm," Sakura said to the beast.

"I'm not sure about that Sakura, I'm freezing too!" Kero complained.

"Li, how are you doing?" Tomoyo asked.

"I'm fine," he replied simply.

"W-W-W-Where are we going anyway?" Sakura shivered. "With every step I take it only gets colder and colder!"

"Li we should turn back," Tomoyo advised.

"Going back now would only take longer. This is a much shorter route," Li replied as he walked faster. "Just don't think about the cold and you'll be fine." Sakura and Tomoyo looked up and saw dark grey clouds slowly taking the place of the sun. They were thick, and seemed to cover the entire sky. Sakura suddenly felt a bad feeling from those clouds.

"Li," she said.

"What!" Li barked.

"Look at those clouds, that can't be a good sign, plus it's getting colder and colder. We have to go back."

"No!" Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero sighed and continued to follow the chestnut haired boy. As the day rolled on, the temperature dropped more and more. At midday it was only 20 degrees, and only getting colder. The small group was slowly trudging up a mountain pathway. The mountains around them were white with snow, and ice. The grey rock was far below them, and the white was getting closer.

"L-L-L-Li, w-w-w-w-we have to g-g-g-go b-b-b-back, i-i-i-it's too cold!" Sakura shivered. She and Tomoyo changed to their heavy winter coats, but that still wasn't enough.

"M-M-M-My f-f-f-fingers a-a-a-are numb!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Li stopped walking and started to look around. Snow was slowly coming down from the sky, but the strong wind blowing the cold substance into their faces. The grey clouds had covered the whole sky; it was as if the sun ever existed at all.

"We should be outta here in a while, it's not too far!" Li shouted, and started walking more.

"Are you nuts?! It's freezing!" Kero shouted. "We have to turn back! I'm freezing my tail off!"

"Shut up!" Kero was suddenly in an inch if snow when Li pounded his head. "Now keep moving!"

OOOOOO

As the group continued walking, an ape-like creature watched them with dark blue eyes. Its pure white fur blended in perfectly with the snow on the mountain. The creature's large grey hand gripped the binoculars on his eyes tightly as he watched the small group track through the snow. The white creature scaled up the mountain in a flash, and when it got to the top ten more creatures like him were waiting for him.

"What did you find out?" the first one asked.

"They are currently heading towards the other side of these mountains, if they make it we'll lose them," the scout reported.

"Well then it looks like we'll have to halt their progress," the leader said slyly, as he felt the large white necklace around his neck. When he looked behind him a large version of the creatures was being restrained by strong chains. His loud snarl exposed his long fangs, and its colossal arms were struggling to break the chains that held it to the large mountain.

"Your orders sir?" the scout asked.

"Send the first wave to catch them by surprise, and then do what you can to separate them. The further away they are from each other, the better," the leader replied.

OOOOOO

Li and the other struggled to walk on the path as the weather worsened. It became so bad it was hard for them to figure out where the path was. The harsh wind blew harder than ever; the gentle fall of the snow only became worse as well. Sakura and Tomoyo tried to keep warm, but the cold was slowly getting to them. Their vision was becoming blurry, and heat seemed to elude them the harder they tried to stay warm. Tomoyo suddenly collapsed into the deep snow trying to catch her breath.

"Tomoyo! Tomoyo! Are you okay!? Tomoyo!" Sakura exclaimed.

"What happened?" Kero asked.

"Tomoyo collapsed! Li we have to turn back!" Sakura shouted as she held her best friend. Li stopped, and looked around.

'I don't get it! We should have been outta here hours ago! What the hell is going on!?' Li thought. The young boy suddenly felt something, the snow, and wind stopped to him, and he felt a cold feeling in his stomach. His eyes suddenly caught sight of a demon behind Sakura. It had the body of a full grown gorilla, and dark blue eyes. Around its flat face was a large white mane like a lion, and had fangs like a crocodile. The demon raised its large grey fist towards Sakura, and started to chuckle softly.

"Die girl," it whispered.

'Aw shit!' Li cursed, and drew his sword in an instant. "Get down you moron! Element fire!" When Sakura heard Li shot, she automatically ducked for his fire attack to hit its mark. The girl suddenly heard a loud yell in a pain. When she turned around she saw an ape like demon behind her.

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"It looks like a Drazzil, a snow ape demon. They can be both tricky and powerful," Kero explained as he looked over the demon.

'A Drazzil, that's weird,' Li thought as he walked over to it.

The snow ape had a severe burn on its chest, with smoke slowly rising from it. Li suddenly grabbed the ape, and started to shake it.

"Who are you?! Why did you try to attack us!? Answer me!" he shouted.

"Li forget him, we have to get Tomoyo out of this cold," Sakura said. "Plus standing around only makes the cold worse." Li was about to let go of the demon, when it started to laugh.

"Gotcha," he laughed, and snapped his fingers. Suddenly it seemed to rain Drazzils. The demon apes jumped from the mountains around them like rain drops. Their growls and snarls came from every direction around the group, not only that, but they were armed with swords, spears, and javelins.

"Aw shit," Li growled as he drew his sword. Suddenly the leader of the demonic apes stepped towards the young man.

"You know I could let the two of you go," he said slyly. "If you leave your three jewels here."

"You can forget it!" Li shouted.

"Li forget them, we need to help Tomoyo!" Sakura reminded him.

"Kill them," the leader ordered. With those words the Drazzil demons all charged towards the small group. The ground seemed to shake, and the snow on top of the mountain started shift. The harsh wind, and falling snow only grew worse, the demons blended in so well he couldn't see any of them while they were charging. The young man managed to catch a glimpse of a large grey fist heading his way, he quickly jumped out of the way, but he was suddenly face first in the snow with incredible pain going through his back. When he looked behind him, there was another one with his fist extended. Li quickly got up and stepped back.

'Damn it! As long as this storm is going full blast I can't see a thing! Not only that, but those damn demons blend in so well with the snow I can't even get a glance at them!' Li thought with a scowl. 'Not only that but, I'm even sure I can at my fullest. My leg and my shoulder are still healing from that damned Hido. Damn I hate my luck.' Li started to step back when saw that the demons were slowly moving for the kill. Their fangs dying to sink themselves into his skin and tear him apart. The young growled as he stepped back, at a loss of what to do.

"Sakura, what's going on?" Tomoyo asked weakly.

"Just hold on Tomoyo, everything will be all right," Sakura answered.

"If you say so."

'I'm not sure how everything will be all right though. Those apes are too camouflaged, not only that but Li isn't fully healed yet. Ever since that full moon incident he's been limping, and I've seen him wince every time he tries to use right arm. How can he fight like this?' Sakura asked herself. The apes started to pound the ground, holing, and roaring like they were getting themselves in some type of berserk state. They were jumping up and down, pounding the ground with their fists, punching the mountain, and some of them were running into each other. The ground started to shake more and more the harder the demonic apes pounded on it. Their noses were flaring, and their dark blue eyes started to glow.

"Oh no!" Kero exclaimed. "This is the Drazzil's death preparation! When they're about to finish off one of their opponents they always do this!" However, Kero's warning came too late, the minute he finished that sentence, the apes charged towards the young man wildly. The ground was shaking just as wildly as their charge; it was as if the demons were causing an earthquake. The snow on top of the mountain couldn't take the strain anymore, so it finally dropped all the snow towards the fighters. The loud rumbling caught the attention of everyone. The snow rushed towards them like a raging flood, taking everything with it as it came. Rocks, trees, even some small animals became trapped in the flood of snow. The demons tried to run, but the snow was too vast, and soon even they became caught. Their loud cries became muffled, and then completely disappeared as they were buried alive. Li rushed towards Sakura, trying to get as far away from the snow as possible.

"Run you moron!" he shouted. But in a matter of seconds, the group was thrown off the path, and caught in the snow. Sakura tried her best to keep her head above the snow, but the more she tried the more snow piled up upon her. The extreme cold substance rushed into her mouth, and seemed to freeze her teeth and tongue. Everything around her spun and tumbled like her, and it felt as though her stomach was in her throat. When he tried to look up, all she saw was another strong batch of snow rushing towards her.

OOOOOO

"Hey, wake up," a voice to Sakura. The girl groaned, and slowly opened her eyes. She slowly looked around her. They were at the bottom of the mountain, in some sort of deep valley. The top of the mountain seemed so out of reach, it was hard to believe that they were just there. She tried to move her fingers, but her entire body was numb from all the snow, even her mouth was numb. She looked to her left and saw Li leaning against a rock.

"W-Where's Tomoyo?" she asked.

"I don't know," Li replied. Sakura suddenly sat up.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" she asked louder.

"We probably lost her in the fall." Sakura slowly got up, and used a rock as support.

"We have to find her. She could be anywhere!"

"Calm down. You're too weak to be worrying about that right now. Focus on getting your strength back. Besides I'm sure that stupid stuffed animal is with her. Now come on, we have get outta this damn cold." Li then started to walk, with Sakura trailing behind. Unknown to them four sets of blue eyes were watching them.

OOOOO

The snow storm only got worse, the wind became much stronger. The howls of the wind blew the rough cold snow into the travelers' faces, and the snow only became deeper and deeper. Soon it was up to their knees, and the temperature just kept on dropping. Sakura's vision suddenly became blurry, her strength and energy seemed to drain from her the longer she walked. Pretty soon it was getting harder to keep her eyes open. Everything just kept on spinning. A few minutes later, she dropped down to her hands and knees. She didn't bother calling Li, she knew he wouldn't care, but to her surprise he actually stopped and turned around.

"Hey, get up! You'll freeze to death if you just stay there!" he scolded. Sakura couldn't answer him, she was too cold. The chestnut haired boy went back to her, and extended his hand. "Here take my hand."

'Is this really happening?' Sakura thought to herself.

"Will you hurry up! Do want to freeze or not!?" Sakura, without hesitation took his hand, and with ease Li picked her up. The next thing Sakura knew, Li was carrying her on his back. The wind howled, and the snow rushed towards them. The temperature dropped even more, they would freeze to death if they didn't get out of the cold soon.

'Damn it now what!?' Li asked himself as he looked around. His eyes suddenly caught sight of a cave not too far away. The young man rushed towards the cave as fast as he could, hoping they could stay there until tomorrow.

OOOOO

When they got to the cave, Li set Sakura down slowly, then covered the entrance with snow so the wind wouldn't get in and make things even colder. When he turned around he saw Sakura shivering in the corner. He reached into his cloak on pulled out a talisman.

"Element fire," he said softly, and the talisman started to burn. He set it in front of Sakura, then gave her the top part of his robes.

"Thanks," she replied softly.

"Whatever," Li said as he sat down across from her. An odd silence passed upon them. Sakura sighed, and decided to end the silence.

"So how long are we going to be here?" she asked.

"Hopefully until tomorrow," Li replied simply. Another silence came, the crackling of the fire, and the howling of the wind were the only sounds that echoed through the damp cave. Sakura decided to try to the silence once again.

"Hey Li, why doesn't the cold bother you?"

"I'm used to traveling in the cold. I have been wandering around for two years." A few more minutes of silence passed, then Sakura chuckled a little.

"When my dad said I could travel with you, he probably never imagined that I would be running for my life, and fighting evil demons," she said.

"You're lucky, at least you have a dad," Li replied. Sakura suddenly looked up, she never expected Li to anything to that.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say my dad didn't have a thing for kids," Li said simply.

"He ran out on your mom?!" Sakura exclaimed. Li just scoffed.

"You can say that."

"Weren't you lonely?" Sakura asked. Li scoffed again.

"Hardly. I had four demons as older sisters." Sakura's eyes widened.

"Four sisters!? Wow, and I thought having one older brother was hard enough, but four sisters!" Sakura suddenly quieted down when she saw the dark, lonely expression on Li's face. He was completely still for a while, then he replied.

"But when I was growing up, no one even paid a little attention to me, they were all too busy," he said softly. "I was just something they stepped over while they were running around."

"So…no one ever paid attention to you? Not even once?" Li sighed, and looked away from her.

"There was someone," he replied softly. For the first time since Sakura had him, she saw his eyes soften, and his rough, cold outer shell started to give way to a lonely young man. Sakura saw his right hand clutch his chest and it started to shake a little bit.

"Who?" Sakura asked. Li's eyes widened for a split second and his soft appearance just vanished like it never existed, and in an instant return to the tough, and cold Li she knew.

"Leave me alone!" he barked. "Forget I said anything before." Sakura sighed, and made no more attempts to break the silence

OOOOO

Meanwhile not too far away the Drazzil leader sat on a rock as he waited for his soldiers to pick up on their scent. The Drazzils tore up the snow, and sniffed through the dirt. Some ripped apart rocks, and bushes sniffing around. The biggest of them punched holes in mountains, and bit open rocks. The monster roared when he didn't find anything, and started pounding on the ground. His masters suddenly bit on his arm making him stop, and preventing him from breaking free.

"Where are they?" the leader growled.

"Master Singa," his second in command said.

"What is it Briz?" Singa asked.

"We've picked up on their scent, we should find them shortly." Singa smirked, and started to chuckle.

"Excellent. When you find them, make sure to strip them of the jewels."

"Yes sir!"

"Oh, and one more thing, since this is won't be easy, let Draga go," Singa said.

"Sir…are you sure? You are aware when he is in battle he does not differ between friend and foe. He just kills whatever is in his way," Briz reminded him, but Singa just smirked.

"I know. That's exactly the reason. Now free him." Briz nodded reluctantly, and slowly took out the key. The monster known as Draga tried his best to break free of his chains, but to no avail. But it calmed down when Briz slowly unlocked his chains. Draga roared, and started to pound on the ground wildly. Singa just laughed.

'This will be interesting.'

OOOOO

Sakura didn't know when she fell asleep, but she was slowly awakened by a harsh scraping sound. When she was fully awake she saw Li sharpening his sword with a rock as he stared into the fire, lost in thought. His eyes watched the dancing flames like it was the only thing that mattered right now. It was as though he wasn't really in the cave with her, he was somewhere else.

'I wonder what he's thinking about,' Sakura thought to herself as she made her way towards him.

"What do you want?" Li asked without taking his eyes off the fire. Sakura was taken aback, she never expected Li to know that she was coming; she thought he was lost to the world around him. "Well, what is it?"

"It's…nothing," Sakura finally said. Li just scoffed, and went back to sharpening his sword. Sakura sighed, and sat against the wall. Suddenly, Li's eyes snapped to the cave entrance that was blocked by snow. The young man tossed away the rock, and readied himself for a fight.

"Great just great," he mumbled.

"What is it?" Sakura asked. Her question was suddenly answered when the snow that covered the entrance was blown away, reveling the Drazzils.

"Shit," Li growled.

"Attack!" Briz exclaimed, and the soldiers charged, their swords, and spears ready to tear Li and Sakura to shreds. Li swiped his fire talisman from the ground, and pointed it at the demons.

"Element Fire!" the fire blast knocked back all of the charging snow demons. Li suddenly grabbed Sakura's wrist, and started to pull her. "Stop staring and let's go you damn moron!" The two ran out of the cave quickly, but outside the cliff was filled with Drazzils. Their blues eyes fixed on the two, their growls echoed through the valley, and their fangs ready to rip open their necks.

"Li, why don't you use that one spell, you know the one you used when Eva was about to give birth," Sakura suggested.

"What are you stupid? That spell takes up practically all my energy. And if I lose my energy I'll just freeze to death," Li replied without looking at her. Suddenly, the Drazzils stopped, and suddenly bowed. Li and Sakura looked around and saw their leader walking towards them with Draga wildly following him.

"I see you two have yourselves caught in a trap. I'll tell you what give us your three jewels and we'll let you go," Singa said with a smirk. "If you don't I'll just feed you to Draga here." Li's grip on his sword tightened, and the air just became colder.

"Not on your life," Li replied coldly. Singa just smirked, and snapped his fingers.

"I had a feeling you would say that." As soon as he fingers snapped, all the Drazzils perched on the cliffs charged. Their heavy steps rumbled the cliffs, and their howling and growling was all that the two could hear. Li suddenly grabbed Sakura again and started to run. The young girl looked around, and saw the entire valley cliffs were covered with dark blue eyes. They seemed to be everywhere. Suddenly a Drazzil popped up from the ground, and jumped towards them. Sliver suddenly flashed through the air, and in an instant, the demon was lifeless on the ground with a deep slash mark in his stomach. The demon slowly sunk into the snow, all that was left was a pool of dark blue blood.

"Come on!" Li exclaimed as he pulled her harder. Sakura looked behind her and saw that there were hundreds maybe even thousands of Drazzils behind them. They ran on all fours, but they didn't sink in the knee high snow, and they seemed to only get faster, and madder. Sakura was suddenly pulled to the left by Li when they made a fast left turn.

"Li, what are we going to do?" Sakura asked.

"Just shut up, and keep running!" When Li looked behind them he suddenly stopped. He looked at them closely, and his eyes caught something. He saw five Drazzils approach a rock, they easily dodged, but Li saw their back foot just pass right through the rock! Li smirked, and let go of Sakura.

"Li what is it? We should be running! There's too much of them for you to fight," Sakura said.

"Shut up, I know what I'm doing," Li barked, and readied his sword. As the demons came closer, Li watched their leader in the middle; he needed to time this just right.

"Li what are you doing?" Sakura asked, but Li ignored her, and ran towards them. "Li! Are you crazy!!!?" The young man threw his sword into the chest of the closest Drazzil; its blood sprayed out of his body, and stained the white of the snow. As it fell, Li ran towards him, and jumped on his sword. He flipped over the entire group, and was heading towards the middle. The leader's eyes widened as he saw Li heading towards him. With one swift kick the necklace around his neck was cracked, and the leader fell on his back.

"That was a nice trick you pulled," Li said as he stood over the leader.

"Li! What's going on? Why did all the Drazzils stop?" Sakura asked.

"They're aren't real you idiot! None of this is real! Not even the storm!" Li shouted.

"What? How?" Sakura asked. Li just ignored her, and grabbed Singa.

"None of this is real isn't it? You're the only real thing here aren't you? I was wondering why it was taking so damn long to get past this mountain. But the truth is, we've just been stuck in your damn illusion," Li said. Singa was frozen in fear. Sakura sighed, and slowly made her way towards Li. She was surprised when she could walk right through the Drazzils like ghosts.

"Li, what's going on?" Sakura asked.

"This has just been one big illusion that's what," Li informed her.

"But it felt so real," Sakura said. "How did he do it?" Li held up his necklace.

"This. This necklace is able to create a very realistic illusion. So this damn sorcerer created this illusion to trap us and take this jewels. He used the Drazzils because they were a strong race, but the thing is, the Drazzils died out centuries ago!" Li growled as he held the sorcerer tighter.

"So how did he create them? And what about Tomoyo-chan, and Kero-chan?"

"He probably just used their skeletons, and created the rest with his damn necklace. As for the other two, I bet he released them from the illusion the minute he figured out they didn't have the jewels."

"So what are you going to do to me now?" Singa asked with fear. Li raised his sword, and said,

"Get the hell outta here." He suddenly brought down his sword, and a great white flash blinded them. The Drazzil illusions just disappeared and their skeletons just dropped to the floor. Singa yelled out in pain, but he was eventually vaporized. The snow, the wind, even the mountain disappeared like it was never there in the first place. The necklace suddenly burst into smaller pieces, and Li and Sakura suddenly disappeared.

OOOOO

When Sakura opened her eyes she saw Tomoyo and Kero looking over her. She sat up quickly, and looked around. They were outside of the mountain, only it wasn't cold at all, and all the snow was gone. It was just another day.

"Sakura-chan what happened? When I came to after the avalanche I was out here, like nothing happened then hours later you and Li show up in this big flash of light," Tomoyo said.

"Tomoyo-chan it's a long story," Sakura replied with a sigh. "Let's just say I got a lot of exercise."

"Damn him for making me run so much," Li mumbled as he leaned against a rock. Sakura looked at him, and at his cold and harsh expression. She suddenly remembered what he looked like when they were talking about his family, he looked sad, and lonely. It was hard to believe that inside he was just a lonely little boy, if she didn't see it, she wouldn't have believe a word of it.

"Sakura are you okay?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded.

"Good then let's go, because that damn detour, this'll take all day," Li said and started walking.

"But I'm hungry!" Kero complained.

"Shut up you damn stuffed animal! Eat dirt!"

BAM!!!

AN: Sorry about taking so long, my computer was acting up. Anyway, what more does Erim have in store for our heroes now? Are there anymore necklaces like the one Singa had? Just how truly soft is Li on the inside? Will Sakura see that side of him more? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!


	19. The Forest Mistress

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 19

Sakura yawned as they made their way through yet another large forest. It wasn't as big as the last couple of forests they've been in, but according to Li it would take most of the day to get through. The morning sun shone bright orange rays upon the forest, and the dark blue sky was slowly being replaced by red and orange. Sakura was in an extreme good mood. It was a bight warm morning, and it was filled with awakening creatures. She couldn't help but smile.

"What the hell are you so happy about?" Li asked when he saw her.

"Yeah Sakura fill us in," Tomoyo said.

"Oh nothing, it's just such a beautiful day!" the girl replied with a bright smile.

"So? What's the big deal?" Li asked.

"After what we went through two days ago I'm just happy to see the sun again!" Sakura said as she looked at the morning sky. Li just scoffed, and said,

"Sorry I asked."

"Oh come on Li, your saying you don't feel a little relived that we aren't in that freezing wasteland anymore?" Tomoyo asked. Kero scoffed.

"I bet he felt right at home in that cold place," the stuffed animal said. Kero was suddenly caught in Li's steel like grip.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself," Li growled, and threw him into the ground. Then stepped on him like a bug. Sakura and Tomoyo laughed as they picked up the bruised beast.

"You really don't learn do you Kero-chan?" Tomoyo asked. Li suddenly stopped, and looked around quickly.

"What is it Li?" Sakura asked as she saw him reach for a small rock.

"Shut up! Something's here," he replied softly. The trees suddenly rustled, and in an instant, Li hurled the small rock. A small cry was heard, and a crow fell from the trees.

"Wow what a dangerous monster," Tomoyo joked.

"Yeah our lives were in such danger," Sakura laughed.

"HA!!! What a worry wart!" Kero laughed, but the yellow beast was suddenly thrown into the ground, and stomped on ten times.

"Will you shut up already!!!!!" Li shouted as he stomped on Kero. Sakura and Tomoyo just sweatdropped as they watched the two, by now Kero was three inches into the ground and Li was walking away like nothing happened. When Sakura looked at the crow to see if it was all right, she saw that it was gone.

'Oh well,' she thought.

OOOOO

The crow cawed loudly as it flapped through the air. Its black feathers leaving a small trail as it flew over the green trees. The crow's red eyes scanned the ground until it found what it was looking for. The black bird swooped down, and landed on the shoulder of a woman. She had black shoulder length hair, blue eyes, and wore a small black tunic.

"So what do you have for me, my friend?" she asked as he stroked the bird's head. The crow hopped towards her ear, and started cawing. Somehow however, this strange woman understood. "I see, so our targets have arrived. Well he did say that they would pass through here. I've been waiting for so long! I hope they are as challenging as the others say." The woman then whistled, and suddenly the floor started to shake. Red eyes shone through the darkness of the forest, and heavy growling echoed through the trees.

"Yes my mistress," the creature said in a fierce deep voice.

"My beast, I may need you for this, ready yourself, while ready our surprises."

"Yes Mistress," the beast growled, and disappeared back in the darkness. The woman then stood up on the branch she was standing on.

"I especially hope this Li kid is as powerful as people say. I don't want an easy job." The odd woman then picked up the crow and threw him into the air. The black bird was suddenly transformed into a large bird demon with a long tail, sharp talons, and a sharp beak. "Now let's go." The woman then jumped on the bird's back and flew off.

OOOOO

It was mid-afternoon when the small group reached the middle of the forest. They decided to take a short break for a while since they had been traveling since the sun came up. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero were eating berries, and other fruits that they found while Li sat on a rock with his sword close.

"Li are you sure you don't want any?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah you have to be hungry," Tomoyo said.

"No, I'm not hungry," he replied simply. Sakura and Tomoyo just shrugged. As Li looked around he suddenly felt something cold, and dark coming from a dark part of the forest. He could have sworn he saw some sort of purple smoke, and he also heard moaning. The young man stood up, and put his sword into his cloak.

"What is it Li?" Sakura asked.

"What is it rabbit now?" Kero wondered as he bit into a berry.

"Shut up. I know I'm feeling something from over there." Sakura and Tomoyo stared into the dark part of the forest, and they both felt chills coming from that place.

"Uh…I don't think going into creepy dark areas is a good idea Li," Tomoyo said with some fear in her voice. When Li walked into the dark bushes his face was unchanged, but Sakura and Tomoyo cringed in disgust, and in fear. Sprawled on the ground were hundreds of skeletons of soldiers, farmers, and some others. Their mouths were open wide in shock, the armor of the soldiers were falling off their thin bones. Dust and cobwebs covered the heads, and the swords were so fragile that even the slightest touch would shatter it to pieces. Arrows filled their chests, and dried blood stained the ground.

"W-W-W-What happened here?" Sakura asked, too frightened to even speak clearly. Tomoyo was too shocked to say a word, and Kero felt like he was about to faint. Li just walked up to the skeletons, and felt the bones. He ran his hands over the cracked heads, and felt the decaying arrows.

"Looks like this happened a while ago. Like ten years. Whoever did this was thorough," he concluded.

"C-C-C-C-Can w-w-w-w-we please g-g-g-go?" Tomoyo asked fearfully as she stepped back. Suddenly a spider web formed, and blocked the way they came, trapping them.

"What the hell!?" Kero exclaimed. The dirt, and blood mixed together to form a dark red substance that shot towards the decaying skeletons. Flesh covered their withered bones, the arrows pinned in their bodies remained there yet they still moved. They moaned loudly and got up. Their eyes were blank, and slash marks were engraved in their false skin. Needless to say Sakura and Tomoyo horrified, and petrified in fear.

"Aw shit! A trap!" Li shouted, and in a flash drew his sword. The zombies moaned even louder when they saw Li's sword. The young man leaped forward and sliced the nearest zombie in half. He then spun around and sliced open four more zombies. The dark red substance that created them sprayed on the ground, and stained the trees. Their pieces slowly fell to the ground, but there were more coming. The zombies made their way towards the fierce young man, who just kept them slicing down. His sword was covered in their dark red substance, but even more lifeless corpses headed his way.

"Jewel, give us jewel," a soldier moaned, but his head was sliced off by Li as a response. Even more corpses rose up and made their way towards the chestnut haired boy.

"Aw damn," he mumbled as he drew a talisman. "Element lighting!" The powerful attack destroyed the remaining zombies, and splattered the dark red substance on the ground.

"Nice shot!" Sakura and Tomoyo exclaimed at the same time. Suddenly however, the dark red substance rose again, and covered the corpses again.

"What the hell!?" Li exclaimed as the bodies rose again. Their flesh was revived as good as new, and their blank eyes fell on Li who stepped back defensively, and readied his sword. "Damn it! Should have known something like this would happen!" The young man suddenly felt something wrap itself around his ankle. Its grip was powerful it felt as though he caught in a cobra's hold, all the feeling in his ankle faded away, but it still felt as though his ankle was being crushed.

"Li what's that on your foot!" Sakura screamed. Li looked down and saw a thin brown hand wrapped his ankle trying to pull him down. Li growled, and did his best to break free, but the zombie's grip was too strong. The other bodies suddenly jumped on the young man, and tackled him to the ground. Li was completely covered by the ghostly bodies, and more just kept on coming.

"Sakura do something!" Tomoyo exclaimed, but Sakura was too paralyzed with fear. She had never seen anything like this before, her body was frozen to that spot, it was as though she was in a trance. The zombies covering Li were suddenly blown away when Li fired a strong lighting spell. The young man jumped to his feet, and shook Sakura out of her trance.

"Will you snap out of it! We have to get the hell outta here!" he shouted as he shook her shoulders. As the zombies started to rise again Li and the others ran down the dark path. Cobwebs covered the trees, fog covered their path, and the moans of the newly revived zombies echoed through the dark path.

"Li can't you fight them?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah, blow them away!" Kero agreed.

"You idiots! It won't matter, those bastards will keep coming back. I'd bet my life that their bones are under some type of spell," Li replied as quickly analyzed their surroundings. All the light from the afternoon sun seemed to fade away the deeper they went into this dark area. Red eyes watched them from the trees as if they were waiting for them to be caught. The air was filled with dampness, and the dark red liquid seemed to everywhere in this area. Tomoyo groaned when she stepped in it.

"What is this stuff!" she yelled as she scarped it off on a rock.

"Will you cut that out! We have to get outta here!" Li shouted.

"What the rush?" Kero asked suddenly. "Those zombies are gone." The others looked behind them and saw that Kero was right, the zombies that were chasing them only a couple of seconds ago were all gone.

"What could have happened to them?" Sakura wondered.

"You're actually wondering what happened to them? I'm happy they're gone!" Tomoyo exclaimed as she sat on a rock.

"I'm not saying I'm worried, but it seems weird that all those zombies just disappeared like they were never there," Sakura said. "What do you think Li?" Li stooped down and felt the dark red substance between his fingers.

"For once I agree with you," he replied as he felt the liquid. "While we were running from them I could feel them so fully, like they were right next to us, but now it just gone."

"You guys worry too much," Tomoyo reassured them. "With them gone we can focus on getting out of here right?"

"Yeah I guess," Sakura agreed. Kero flew near Li, and looked over his shoulder.

"So what the hell is that stuff anyway?" he asked.

"It's some kind of mixture of mud and blood obviously, but how it controlled those corpses is beyond me," Li answered, and stood up. "I don't think we're out of danger yet, we should keep moving." The other nodded, and followed his lead.

OOOOO

"So they made it past my zombies eh?" the woman said as she stared into the lake. "No big deal, that was only part one, but part two no one has gotten past." The woman whistled again, and the giant bird swooped down, and picked her up.

'This will be fun,' she thought.

OOOOO

Sakura groaned when she stepped into the dark red liquid again. They had been walking for hours, but they seemed to be getting no where close to the way out. The small group was now in a small clearing with even more forest ahead of them, and a cliff overseeing this part of the forest. Sakura sat on a rock to scrape off the liquid from her shoe.

"Will you hurry up?!" Li barked. "The longer we stop, the better the chance someone can target us!" Sakura sighed as she got up, she was about to follow her friends when she suddenly felt something. Something in inside of her started to pulse, everything faded away, and turned black. She could feel something swirl around her, she couldn't see whoever it was, but it was like they were right beside her.

"Help me," a voice whispered in her ear. "Please free me."

"Who's there?" Sakura asked as she looked around.

"Please save me," the voice pleaded again. Sakura was now completely confused. How could she help someone she couldn't even see?

"Save from what? A demon?" Unfortunately for her the voice started to fade away.

"Save me," it said softly as it faded away. The darkness that surrounded her suddenly shattered when she heard yelling.

"Hey wake up!!!!" Li shouted. Sakura was quickly brought back to reality, and saw Tomoyo and Kero looking at her with concerned eyes, and Li looking at her with the same glare in his eyes.

"What is it Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura shook her head.

"Someone needs our help," she said.

"Who?" Kero asked. Li scoffed, and started to walk forward.

"I don't know, but whoever it was sounded miserable. We have to help whoever it is," Sakura said. Li suddenly froze, and flipped up his sword from under his cloak. "Li what is it?" Sakura asked when she saw the stern look on his face. The young man suddenly felt something approaching the girls from behind.

"Get down!!" he shouted as he drew his sword. Without hesitation Sakura and Tomoyo quickly ducked, and saw three arrows whiz overhead. Li swiftly sliced them away, and looked around.

"Who's shooting?" Kero wondered. More arrows suddenly sped towards the group, but Li spun around and sliced them into pieces. However it a matter of seconds it started to rain arrows. Li quickly put up a shield around them, but the arrows just kept coming, as though there was no end to them. The missiles pleated against the wind shield like rain drops, but the arrows started coming from behind as well.

"Damn it! Where the hell are these damn arrows coming from!" Li growled as he looked around. Sakura looked around, but all she could see were arrows, it was as though they were coming out of nowhere. When she closed her eyes she saw a smaller glimmer of dark purple aura coming from somewhere. The auburn haired girl decided to concentrate harder, the aura started to grow larger and larger the more she concentrated. Suddenly it felt as though she was pulled from the shield, and was flown to the cliffs. She hovered over them and saw only three archers. They were completely covered in black, and they were able to fire six arrows at once, but that didn't explain how all those arrows filled the sky. But her question was answered when she saw something glow in their hoods. The original eighteen arrows were multiplied at least ten times before it reached the shield Li created. Sakura looked at the arrows and saw that some of them emitted a purple aura. She gasped when she saw that ones that glowed passed through the trees, and rocks. When she looked closer, she saw that the arrows that glowed were transparent!

"They aren't real!" Sakura exclaimed as she snapped back to reality.

"What!" Li snapped.

"What do you mean Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.

"The arrows, some of them aren't real! In fact hardly any of them are real," she reported. "It's all a trick." Li gripped his sword tighter, and growled deeply.

"You know I have had, just about enough, with these damn ILLUSIONS!!!!" Li bellowed. He turned to Sakura, and grabbed her wrist. "When I break the shield I want you to tell me which ones aren't real all right!?" Sakura nodded, and turned to Tomoyo and Kero.

"You two had better find cover," she advised. Tomoyo and Kero nodded, and slowly backed up. When they were safely behind a sturdy tree, Li broke the shield with a loud cry, and rushed towards the cliff with Sakura on his shoulders.

"You'd had better not screw this up!" he barked, at Sakura who had her eyes closed this whole time. "HEY!!! Open your damn eyes!!" Li shouted. Sakura took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. Another batch of arrows fired upon them, Sakura tried her best, but she could just barely see the glow on the fake arrows.

"Err…. Dodge now!!" Sakura exclaimed. Li quickly leaped to the right, and ran towards the cliffs, but even more arrows headed their way. Sakura gasped when she saw real arrows heading Li's way. "Li you're heading towards real arrows!" In a flash the young man drew his sword and sliced them away. The closer the two came to the cliffs the less the fake arrows came. Sakura tightened her grip as Li jumped back to dodge another set of arrows. The young man rushed towards the cliff again, but suddenly the arrows came even faster than ever. It took all of Li's abilities to dodge the missiles, but some managed to graze his body a little.

"Hold on," he said to Sakura, and braced himself for a jump, but just as he made his leap, an arrow collided with his leg. Li cried out in pain, and fell. He rolled to break his fall, but as a result Sakura fell off his shoulders. As soon as he got up, countless arrows flew towards him. The young man did his best to avoid them, but he couldn't tell which were real, and which weren't. More arrows collided with his legs making him fall on his knees, and more struck him in his arms. Li growled in pain as he tried to walk, but the arrows just kept coming. Sakura gasped when she saw another batch of missiles heading towards Li. She had to do something. She drew the Watery card, and held it up in the air.

"Watery! Create a clear path for Li!" she exclaimed. The water sprit burst out from the card, and shot towards the arrows. The sprit flew over the approaching arrows, and made some of them disappear. Li saw his chance and jumped towards the cliff. Despite the arrows in his arms and legs, Li scaled the cliff in record time. The cloaked fired their arrows, but the young man easily dodged them, and leaped into the air.

"Take this you bastards! Element, Lighting!" The lighting attack struck all three arches at once. In a matter of seconds, they were nothing but cloaks and dust with smoke rising from them.

"Nice one Li!" Sakura exclaimed as the young man made his way down.

"God do I hate illusions."

OOOOO

As the woman rode on the crow's back she suddenly felt something fade away. The dark aura around the cliff area disappeared, and few branches snapped. The woman made the grand bird turn, and make its way towards the small group. As she made her way towards them she twirled her hair, giggled a little bit.

"So they managed to make their way past the cliff. Master Erim was right, they are unusual. Well it looks like I might have to use my full power after all. This will be exciting after all."

OOOOO

"Are we there yet?" Kero asked as the group walked deeper into the dark forest.

"Are we out of this damn forest yet?" Li said to the stuffed animal.

"No."

"Then we aren't there yet. So shut up and keep walking or flying, or whatever the hell you do!"

"Hey! Bite my tail!" Tomoyo and Sakura just giggled at the bickering two. It was amazing, they had been traveling for a couple of months now, and they had yet to settle down. Sakura's eyes widened, she felt something, something big. She was about to tell Li when she heard that same voice again.

"Help me," it pleaded softly. "Please save me." Sakura noticed that the person's voice was getting louder rather than softer like last time.

"I want to, but how can I help you if I can't see you?" Sakura asked. She suddenly snapped back to reality when she heard someone calling her.

"Hey Sakura are you okay?" Tomoyo asked when Sakura was brought back to reality. Sakura looked around, and then gave her best friend a smile.

"Yeah I'm fine." She was about to continue walking when she saw Li and Kero stop. They were frozen in their spots, their eyes stern, and Sakura saw Li reach into his cloak for his sword.

"What is it guys?" Tomoyo asked.

"Something is coming, there are two of them. Two big ones," Kero replied. "Which means we should leave it up to Li here!" Li suddenly pounded Kero into the ground.

"Cowardly stuffed animal," Li growled, but suddenly his eyes shot towards a group of shaking trees. They shook, and then fell down with a loud crash. Li could feel a powerful magical energy heading their way. He closed his eyes to get a better feel for its aura. He saw a red flaming aura with black streaks tear its way through the forest, and then he saw a light purple aura coming towards them from above. He opened his eyes, and softly growled.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Two extremely powerful magical energies are heading our way. This can't be good," Li replied and drew his sword. The ground to slightly rumble and the trees continued to fall like something was tearing through them like paper. The gust of the wind increased, and the darkness that surrounded the forest only seemed to increase.

"What the hell is going on!?" Kero exclaimed. The group of trees that stood in front of them were torn down, and made way for a grand creature. The beast had pointed wolf like ears, and light brown fur that were long enough to be passed as spikes or quills. The creature stood on its immense hind legs in a crouched position and its long tail swayed with every step. It wore samurai like armor that was made to withstand the strongest of attacks, but light enough so that the wearer could still have agility. The beast's red eyes were fixed on the small group, and its massive hand rose to revel the creature's short, but powerful claws. Drool dripped down its mouth as it growled, and its pure white fangs showed.

"What the hell is that?" Li said softly.

"That would be one of my pets," a voice said from above them. A woman suddenly leaped from the giant bird she was riding, and landed on the head of the creature in front of them. She put her hands on her hips, and smiled.

"Are you the witch behind this whole shithole!?" Li demanded to know.

"Witch? I am not a witch boy. I am Situra the mistress of this forest. And this is my favorite pet Magabura," the woman said. "Well now that the introductions are out of the way, I want your jewels kid."

"Not on your life!" Li exclaimed, and got into a fighting stance. Sakura who had been watching this entire time looked at Situra, and her eyes widened suddenly. She saw a pale woman that had long green, leaf like hair coming down past her shoulders. Her arms were crossed on her chest, and Sakura saw a light glow coming from her.

"Save me," it whispered. Sakura suddenly heard a loud snarl from Magabura. When she looked she saw that it was about to attack Li.

"I think it's in your best interest that you hand over your three jewels," Situra said. "Or face the wrath of my pet here."

"No way you witch," Li replied. Situra smirked, and leaped off of the beast.

"Fine then, Magabura attack!!" The beast went down on all fours and rushed towards the group. Li quickly whipped out all three jewels, and threw them at Sakura and Tomoyo.

"Take those jewels and run!!" Li exclaimed as he quickly flipped over the charging beast. Sakura and Tomoyo nodded and ran off. Situra extended her arm; vines suddenly shot out and wrapped themselves around a tree branch.

"You aren't getting away from me!" the mistress exclaimed as she swung after the retreating girls. Li quickly jumped back, and dodged a powerful strike from the monster. Magabura roared, and charged, but Li just smirked.

"Bring it on you bastard!" he said as he got into a fighting stance.

OOOOO

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero looked behind them, and saw Situra swinging towards them. Sakura saw the same woman from before inside of her, pleading for help. Sakura suddenly stopped, and made a fist.

"Sakura what are you doing?!" Kero exclaimed. Situra stopped swinging, and stood on a branch with her hands on her hips.

"So finally coming to your senses huh?" she said with a laugh. Sakura picked up a stick and held it up like a sword.

"Sakura are you crazy?" Tomoyo asked.

"I can't keep running Tomoyo. There's someone inside of Situra who needs help. I can't leave whoever it is in there. I'm going to fight her, take the jewels and run!" Sakura exclaimed as she handed Tomoyo all three jewels. Tomoyo, who wasn't sure what to do, just smiled, and nodded.

"Good luck Sakura," she said as she ran off. Sakura stared deeply into Situra's eyes.

"If you want those jewels you'll have to go through me!" she exclaimed. Situra just laughed, and jumped down from her branch.

"Well that will be relatively easy, especially if you plan on fighting me with just a simple stick," Situra said. Sakura took a deep breath, and put some of her wind powers into the stick. It started to suddenly glow, and it turned into the weapon she used to defeat Hido.

"Now what do you think?" Sakura asked with a slight smile. Situra just chuckled, and picked up a stick too. She suddenly transformed it into a sword, and held it up.

"I think this will be quite interesting," she said, and got into a stance. "On guard girl!" The mistress shot forward towards the amber haired girl.

"Bring it on!"

AN: Uh oh, not good. Li and Sakura are about to face off against two powerful foes, can they survive? And will Tomoyo be able to escape with the jewels? Will Sakura free whoever is inside of Situra? You just have to read to the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels! Oh and to answer a few quick questions I received last chapter. Okay, first off, to Nanie-san, I would be a boy. And no I didn't take offensive. If you have a question about me, don't be afraid to ask. Two, Rapscallion, Li's sisters, to him act like demons. I describe my older brother and sister that way too sometimes. Okay and that's it, please continue to read this fic, and review as well. And if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. So anyway, see you guys next chapter.


	20. Battle Against the Forest

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 20

Sakura braced herself as Situra shot towards her with her sword raised. The amber haired girl tightened her grip on her weapon as she saw the forest mistress bring down her sword. Sakura quickly raised her bladed staff, and met Situra's weapon head on. A loud CLANG reached Sakura's ears as the weapons met, but it took all of her strength to hold Situra's sword. The mistress smirked as she saw Sakura's struggling face, and added even more force to her weapon, making the young girl take a knee.

"What's the matter little girl? Having trouble holding up my little blade?" Situra asked with a laugh. Sakura growled, and did her best not to drop her staff. If she let go now her entire body would be sliced clean in half, and that person inside of Situra would never be freed.

'I can't give in!' she thought. 'I have to find my strength!'

"You might as well just die now little girl, because you won't stand a chance against me!" the forest mistress laughed. Sakura took a deep breath, and gathered all of her inner strength to push up on Situra's sword. With a loud yell the young girl pushed up on the mistress's sword leaving her open to an attack. Seeing her chance Sakura brought down her weapon quickly, but Situra dodged swiftly with a graceful back flip making Sakura's attack miss by a mile.

"No!" Sakura said softly. Situra chuckled as she readied for another attack.

"Nice try, just not fast enough!" The black haired girl shot forward again and attacked with a swift strike towards Sakura's stomach. The younger girl quickly jumped back and countered with a slash towards her neck. Situra gasped, but managed to duck, and attack again with a powerful upwards slash. Sakura quickly jumped back, and swung her staff creating a powerful wind that blew Situra back, but the mistress leaped into the air to avoid the rest of the wind assault, and came down with a strong downward attack.

"Look out Sakura!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Sakura put out her hand, and used another blast of wind to knock her back in the air a little, and then the young girl jumped into the air and slashed Situra across her stomach. As she fell, the forest mistress flipped over, and landed on her feet with grace. Situra felt the wound on her stomach, it wasn't a large wound, but it was long enough not to go unnoticed. The black haired woman felt the blood oozing out of the large cut, and rubbed it against her fingers.

"Congratulations girl, you're the first human to ever injure me. Don't get too proud however," she said coldly, as she picked up another stick. "Because, it won't happen again." She suddenly turned her other stick into another sword.

'This is not good,' Sakura thought as Situra charged again.

OOOOO

Li hurriedly jumped to side as the massive hand of Magabura, one of Situra's pets, came crashing down towards him. The entire forest seemed to shake as the powerful hand met the ground. Li pivoted on his back foot, and shot towards the beast with his sword drawn.

"Take this!" the young man then brought down his sword towards the monster's chest, but his weapon suddenly bounced off of Magabura's powerful armor with a loud clank! "What the hell!" The demon beast roared, and sent Li flying into a tree with one swing of his arm. The chestnut haired fighter groaned as he fell to his knees, but he refused to let this beast take his life.

"I kill you," Magabura growled, then suddenly went on all fours and rushed towards Li like a bull. As he came closer, Li braced himself quickly, and then leaped into the air avoiding the charge. Magabura tore through five trees like paper, and then roared as he turned to face Li again.

"Take this you bastard! Element Lighting!!!" The lighting attack collided with the beast's face head on, but when the smoke cleared, Magabura didn't have a scratch on him, the only thing the lighting attack succeeded in doing was getting the monster even angrier. Magabura picked a tree and swung it like a staff towards the young man. Li swiftly ducked under the massive staff, and rushed towards the monster, readying his sword for another attack.

"No you won't get any closer!" the beast growled, and swung the tree again. In an instant, Li was on the ground with at least two broken ribs and blood coming down the side of his head. He growled as he felt the tremendous amount of pain coming from his ribs, he clutched his sides, and banged his fist on the ground trying to fight the pain.

'Damn it!!!' he yelled in his mind. 'I should have been more careful! Now I can't even move or breathe without feeling this damn pain!'

"You die now!" Magabura said as he raised a large boulder over his head. Despite the pain in sides, Li managed to dodged the enormous rock, and grab his sword that he had dropped when he was struck with the tree. The beast brought down the boulder again, but Li jumped to the side, and stabbed his side, but just like last time his sword only bounced off of his armor, giving Magabura a split second to fight back. Li didn't see the massive foot until it was too late, the kick was stronger than any kick he had received from any demon before. The young man was knocked into the ground, making his broken ribs even worse. When looked up he saw a large grey object come down towards him.

'Damn it!' Li quickly rolled back, and avoided the rock again. He jumped to his feet while Magabura charged with the rock over his head again. Li jumped back again, but this time when the rock was on the ground for a split second, Li jumped on it and used it for a push off.

"What!" the beast exclaimed.

"Take this!!!!" Li brought down his sword, but it was suddenly stopped by a powerful force. The young man tried, but he couldn't bring it down anymore. When he looked, he saw Magabura with his right hand out, holding the sword. Li was suddenly bashed into the ground by a strong head butt leaving a small hole in the ground from the impact. The young man rolled out of the way as Magabura's foot came crashing down towards him. As he dodged another one, he grabbed his sword, and thrust it into the monster's foot. The beast roared in pure pain. Blood sprayed out of the wound, and stained the dirt. In one motion, Li grabbed the sword, and pulled it out. He then aligned it for another attack to the beast's feet when he was kicked in his already broken ribs, and rolled into a tree.

"You hurt me, now you will pay!" Magabura growled, as he felt the blood coming from his wounded foot.

'This won't be pretty,' Li thought as he rose to his feet, and readied his sword. 'And with my broken ribs this won't be easy either.'

"Die!" the monster growled. It suddenly jumped into the air, and rolled itself into a ball. The hairs on its back straightened and formed sharp quills and spikes that too up his entire back. The beast came down with a loud crash! It was a now red spike ball.

"Oh shit," Li muttered.

OOOOO

A loud CLANG rang through the back area of the forest as Sakura faced Situra the forest mistress. Sliver flashed in Sakura's eyes as Situra attacked with her two swords. Sakura held up her weapon and managed to block her attacks, and counter with a powerful wind blast. Situra was blown back a few feet, seeing her chance Sakura leaped in the air with a loud cry, and brought down her weapon. Situra growled, and blocked Sakura's attack. She suddenly pushed up on Sakura's weapon, making her jump back, Situra suddenly shot forward, and attacked with a swift strike towards Sakura's neck. The young girl quickly put up her staff, and blocked, but she suddenly saw her other sword shoot straight for her stomach. Sakura quickly slashed Situra across her cheek, making the mistress jump back.

Situra growled softly, as she felt the blood coming down her cheek. The mistress shot forward, and brought down her two swords with a strong force behind it. Sakura quickly jumped back to avoid the two swords, then shot forward, raising her weapon. Situra swiftly parried her strike, and stabbed Sakura in her shoulder. Sakura cried out in pain as she felt the sword go right through her shoulder. She fell to her knees, and clutched her wound, she had no idea how Li could put with this kind of pain. Situra just giggled.

"Ha, and here I thought you would be a challenge. You only managed to strike me twice, a new record for a human," the black haired woman said as she raised her swords. "I am going to grant you a quick death, I hope you're ready."

"Sakura!!!" Tomoyo called out. Sakura took a deep breath as she saw Situra's blades come down towards her. The amber haired girl shot out her palms and fired a strong wind blast that blew the forest mistress's swords away. Sakura grabbed her staff, and jumped to her feet.

"You're open!" she exclaimed and brought down her staff.

"I am, am I?" Situra said softly, and then extended her hand. Vines suddenly shot out at Sakura who was caught completely off guard as the vines wrapped around her, and slowly raised her into the air. "They don't call me mistress of the forest for nothing! I can control any forest, or any other wooded area!" Sakura struggled to free herself, but the vines seemed to keep coming.

"Oh no!" Kero exclaimed. "Sakura! Try to lead her away from this area!!" Situra looked at the yellow beast, and in an instant her vines were wrapped around Tomoyo and Kero.

"Just stay there kids, I don't want you running when I come for the jewels," she said with a giggle. By now, Situra's vines had almost completely covered Sakura, who kept trying to free herself, but to no avail. She was about to give up when she thought of something. With her movable left hand, she grabbed a piece of one of the vines that kept her up, and gave it some of her wind power.

'Please work,' she thought. The vine piece suddenly glowed, and transformed into a second weapon. Sakura smirked, and with her two new weapons she cut all the vines that held her up, and chopped all the approaching ones into pieces.

"What! Where did she get that second weapon?!" Situra exclaimed. As Sakura dropped to the ground, she cut all of the vines that Situra sent at her, and then she did a flip in mid-air and cut open Situra's shoulder. As soon as the young girl felt the rough ground beneath her she shot forward, and cut the vines holding Tomoyo and Kero.

"Nice save Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Sakura smiled, and looked at Situra, who was on her knees growling. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the woman from earlier, she was still trapped, and her glow only seemed to fade. The young girl was caught off guard when she heard Kero whisper something.

"The wood spirit?"

"The what?" Sakura and Tomoyo asked at once.

"The wood spirit. It can control all trees, and other forms of wood. If you can combine it with the right amount of rain, it can make an entire forest!" Kero explained.

"But how do you know this?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah I thought you didn't know anything about the spirits," Sakura said.

"I'm not sure, all of a sudden the name just popped in my mind, like I knew it before," Kero replied. Situra just laughed as she got up.

"So you've figured it out, figured out that I have the powers of the wood spirit in me." Sakura made a fist as she saw the look of suffering and pain on the innocent spirit's face.

"Why? Why would you capture that spirit?" Sakura demanded to know.

"For power," Situra answered simply. "I knew that my powers alone wouldn't be enough to get what I wanted, so I came here, and captured the wood spirit. It was easy since it was one of those stupid gentler types. Then I fused her into me. Her powers and mine mixed, and I was given this incredible magic! But if I add the power of at least one of the jewels, then I will be virtually unstoppable!!!" Sakura made a tight fist as she listened to Situra laugh. Finally, she had enough.

"You witch! How could you do such a thing to an innocent spirit, and laugh about it!?" Situra raised an eyebrow at Sakura's sudden outburst; even Tomoyo and Kero were surprised. She gripped her two weapons, and charged.

"Bring it on little girl!" Situra said with a smirk.

"Don't worry I will!"

OOOOO

The trees crashed to the floor, animals ran off trying to find a safe place to hide until the danger past, and the ground rumbled and shook. Li leaped behind a tree as the red spiked ball crashed through the trees. Li growled as the ball turned around, and rolled back towards him.

'Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to beat that thing!' the young man thought as the beast rolled faster towards the tree he was hiding behind. Li leaped from the tree, and started to sprint towards a clearing in the forest.

"You can't escape!" the ball roared, and started speed up. Li groaned when he felt the spikes on the beast cut his legs a little. Li nearly stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a large cliff up ahead. He wasn't heading for a clearing; he was heading for a cliff!

"Shit!" Li cursed, but when he saw Magabura not too far away, he smirked. "Maybe this could work." The young man stepped back while Magabura sped towards him.

"You die!!" Suddenly just as Magabura was about to run Li over, he jumped off the cliff! Caught off guard, Magabura had no time to de-transform out of his ball form. In a loud crash, Magabura met the ground. Dust flew up from above the trees, and covered the large hole in the ground from the large demon's impact. Meanwhile Li was slighting chuckling as he held on to the ledge of the cliff.

"Gullible bastard."

OOOOO

Sakura charged with a loud cry, and swung her two weapons towards Situra. The forest mistress smirked, and managed to dodge by flipping backwards. Sakura looked at her intensely as she saw the wood sprit with the same look of suffering on its face. Situra suddenly jumped in the air, and knocked Sakura to the ground with a swift kick across her face. The young girl quickly jumped to her feet, and slashed the forest mistress across her chest, then followed up with another one. Situra quickly jumped back, avoiding Sakura's second attack.

"Try this little girl!" she shouted, and shot out her vines. The amber haired girl rushed towards the blacked haired woman, slicing her way through the vines as she went, but they suddenly started to get thicker. Soon, they became so thick that Sakura's weapons could only make a small cut in them.

"Oh no!" Kero exclaimed as he saw the vines wrap around Sakura like cobra. Sakura struggled, trying to get free, but the vines were too thick.

"Now I have you!" Situra exclaimed, then she raised the vines in the air, taking Sakura with it, and started to spin over her head. Sakura felt as though she was going to throw up at least three times as she spun through the air. Her stomach felt as though it was going up her throat, and into her mouth. Situra suddenly chuckled, and stopped spinning the vines. The young girl was suddenly hurled through the air like a rock just freed from a slingshot. When Sakura saw the ground coming closer, she squeezed her eyes shut, and readied herself for the powerful impact. The girl collided with the ground with a loud crash. She slid through the mud and dirt with small rocks and pebbles tapping at her skin. She opened her eyes with a loud groan.

"What a ride," she mumbled as she held her head. The dizziness had not left her yet, it still felt as though the entire forest was spinning. Sakura felt nauseous, and her head was throbbing from the crash. When she tried to stand up, her legs felt like jelly, they couldn't support her at all. The amber haired girl growled softly as she saw Situra make her way towards her.

"Did you have fun? Because I sure did," the forest mistress said with a dark smirk. Sakura held on to a tree for support as she reached into her pocket, for her trump card.

"Take this! I summon you Watery!!!" Water burst from the card, and rushed towards Situra, but the blacked haired woman just slapped the sprit away like it was nothing.

"What was that supposed to do?" she asked with a bored expression on her face.

"What! But how!?" Sakura exclaimed as the sprit came back to the card. Situra just laughed.

"Stupid girl! Watery is out of her element here. With no water around as a source, that sprit is useless to you."

"Not good!" Kero growled. He and Tomoyo had followed Sakura as she went flying from Situra's vine attack. Tomoyo gasped when Situra formed another sword, and raised it over a still weak Sakura.

"Get ready to meet your maker," she said darkly. Tomoyo reached into her pocket, and pulled out the Kamikaze Necklace.

"Sakura catch!" she shouted, and tossed the jewel at her best friend. Sakura put up her hand, and caught the necklace before Situra knew what was going on.

"Mom's necklace?" Sakura whispered.

"Put it on quick!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"But didn't Li say these jewels were dangerous?"

"Forget what he said! You need it!" Sakura stared at the jewel, she could feel it giving off incredible power, but she wasn't sure if she should put it on. But suddenly she didn't have a choice.

"Die!!!" Situra exclaimed, and brought down her sword. Sakura shut her eyes, and quickly put on the necklace.

OOOOO

Li growled, as he slowly made his way through the forest, his ribs were killing him, and the blood from his head wound covered his left cheek. He was making his way towards Sakura's energy, when he sensed something else. He growled deeply, and drew his sword. The trees shook again, and in a matter of moments, Magabura burst through them.

"Give me a break!" Li exclaimed. "How the hell could he survive a fall like that!?" The demonic beast roared, and readied for a strong attack. Li suddenly noticed that Magabura was indeed injured, greatly. He had large amounts of blood coming down from his head, and large slashes on his chest. His mighty was cracked in countless places, and from the look of his twisted right leg, it was broken.

"You die!!" the monster shouted, and opened its grand mouth. Li's eyes widened when all of a sudden a powerful blue blast shot towards him with incredible speed. The young man leaped into the air, just barely missing the attack, but Magabura met him in the air, and slammed him into the ground with a powerful blow to his shoulder. Li yelled out in pain as he clutched his dislocated shoulder.

"DAMN IT!!!!!" he bellowed. Magabura laughed as he landed with a loud crash.

"Time to finish you!" The beast opened his mouth again. Li grabbed his sword, hurled it towards his stomach. In an instant the sword was impaired in Magabura's stomach. The monster roared in pain, and fired his blast in the air. Seeing a quick chance to rest, Li went down to his knees, and held his dislocated shoulder tightly. He took a deep breath, and with a loud yell popped the bone back in place. His attention was snapped back to Magabura when the demon stopped roaring, and pulled out his sword from his stomach. Li quickly jumped into a tree to think of a way to beat this monster.

'What the hell do I do? If that thing can survive a fall from a cliff, what more can he survive?' Li thought. He then looked at the large crack in Magabura's armor. 'That crack! If I can create a powerful enough spell, I can probably destroy that armor, then I can kill it. But how?'

"Where are you!!!" the beast roared as it blasted away more trees. Li thought for a while as he watched the beast.

'There's only one spell I can think of, but is it strong enough?' he thought. He took a deep breath, and leaped from his hiding spot. 'Might as well!'

"There you are!!! Now you die!!!" the beast exclaimed, and fired another blast.

"Wind Reflection!" Li shouted, and held up his wind talisman. A powerful wind blast out as the blast shot towards the young man. In an instant, the blast changed direction and shot straight towards its sender. Magabura had no time to react, and in a blink of an eye there was a hole ten inches wide in Magabura's chest. The demon fell lifelessly to ground with a loud thud. Blood covered the dirt, and slowly, Magabura started to dissolve into nothing but bones. Red mist flew up into the air, as it left, the bones turned into nothing but dust. Li sighed, but his eyes suddenly darted towards where Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero ran off to. Sakura's energy was skyrocketing for some reason. Something was going on, and was going to find out.

OOOOO

As soon as Sakura put on the necklace, a powerful wind came out of no where, blasted Situra into two trees. Sakura slowly stood up, she brushed her now long hair out of her eyes as she made her way towards Situra. The forest mistress grabbed her sword, and rushed towards her.

"I'll kill you no matter what!" The younger girl just outstretched her hand, and another blast of wind, blew Situra into even more trees.

"Give up," Sakura said softly, and mysteriously.

"Never!" Situra shot back as she got up. When she looked in the sky, she saw a red mist rise over the trees where Li and Magabura were fighting. The woman smirked as the mist made its way towards her. Sakura slowly raised an eyebrow when she saw Situra laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked emotionlessly.

"Because your about to witness my true power!" Situra exclaimed as she took a deep breath. Red mist suddenly swirled around her as she took a deep breath. The mist suddenly flew up her nose as if she was breathing in air, but the woman started to pulse. She let out a loud glass breaking scream as she changed. Her tan skin started to crack away like snake skin, and gave way to coral black skin with red spots. Her hands grew three times their normal size, with long claws growing in. Her fangs were just as long as her claws, and her tongue became so thin it could be mistaken for a snake.

"What the heck just happened to her?" Tomoyo asked Kero who was in shock by Sakura's transformation. "Kero?"

"I-I-I-It can't be. She looks just like…." But he was suddenly cut off by the savage yell from Situra. The demonic woman rushed towards Sakura, who just barely dodged one of her slashes. Situra arm suddenly turned into a tree branch, and she lashed it out at the now older looking Sakura. The amber haired girl swiftly dodged, and fired another strong blast of wind, but Situra leaped in the air avoiding it.

"Die girl!" she screamed, and brought down her claws. Sakura quickly picked up her other weapon, which she had dropped when she fell, and put the two staffs together. The girl swung them both, and in an instant, Situra went flying into the other side of the forest. When she was out of sight, Sakura suddenly disappeared in a burst of visible wind, following Situra, leaving both Kero, and Tomoyo in shock at what they just saw.

"How can it be possible?" Kero whispered.

OOOOO

Li was suddenly on guard as soon as he felt a demonic energy come his way. In a flash his sword was out, and he looked around to see where it was coming from. A loud scream made him look up, and Situra came crashing down. As soon as she landed a burst of visible wind appeared behind her. When it parted, it reveled Sakura in the form she was in when she fought Mudo.

"What the hell?" Li mumbled as he saw Situra slowly get up, and Sakura gracefully approach her.

"Give up," Sakura said softly. Situra screamed again, and lunged forward.

"Never!!!" A loud clang reached Li's ears as Situra's claws met Sakura's staff. The demon mistress suddenly sank her teeth in Sakura's shoulder, but to her, and Li's surprise, she didn't cry out in pain or even wince. Instead she put her hand in her face, and blew her away. Situra crashed near a ragging river with blood coming down her forehead, cheek, and her arms.

"I gave you a chance you surrender, but you refused to take it," Sakura said dangerously as she made her way towards her. Situra's eyes widened when she saw that Sakura was ready to finish her. The demonic mistress stepped back, her face covered in fear, but she refused to back down.

"Die girl!!!!" she screamed, and tried to slash off her head, but Sakura easily dodged, and knocked her to the ground with a strong blow from her staff. As Situra struggled to get up, Sakura reached into her pocket, and drew out the watery.

"I summon you Watery!!!" with the river around them, the water sprit was as strong as ever. In an instant, the sprit burst from the card, and shot into Situra's mouth. The demon's eyes widened in shock, and pain as the countless amounts of deadly water flew into her system. Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, the Watery burst out from her body using her stomach as the exit. Situra's eyes widened greatly as she fell lifelessly to the ground. Her body started to slowly dissolve away into nothing but dust and rock.

"Holy shit," Li mumbled as he watched. A green light suddenly shot out from the fading corpse of Situra. The light shot straight to Sakura, and suddenly shrank into the form of a card. When the young girl held it, the light parted, and a card was formed with the words "The Wood" written across the bottom. The light from Sakura faded away, and her hair became short again. Her big bright eyes widened when she saw the two cards in her hands.

"Hey Li, what's going on?" Sakura asked him, when she saw that he was watching her. "I remember Tomoyo throwing me the necklace, but I can't remember anything else past that."

"Forget it," Li said as he turned around. Sakura stared at the new card in her hand, it was the woman she wanted to save. The wood sprit.

"Well at least I freed her," Sakura mumbled with a smile. Suddenly, the ground started to rumble, cracks filled the ground like it was an egg being cracked. The trees were sinking in the darkness of the ground, some fell over, and dissolved into nothing. The ground Li and Sakura stood on started to sink, the entire forest started to sink into the ground.

"Come on we'd better get the hell out of here!" Li exclaimed, and started to run.

"Wait what about Tomoyo and Kero?!" Sakura asked as she followed him.

"They'll catch up!" Li shot back as he and Sakura quickly ran out of the dissolving forest.

OOOOO

Sakura stared in awe as the forest slowly became nothing but a giant hole in the ground. Nothing remained, it was as if there was never a forest there in the first place.

"Where's Tomoyo and Kero?" Sakura asked as she looked for them.

"Up here!" Tomoyo cried from above. She was inside of one of Kero's shields in the air. Sakura smiled as she landed in front of them. "So what happened to Situra?" Sakura shrugged.

"When I came to she was nothing but dust, and the forest was falling apart."

"But you…" Kero began, but Li pounded him into the ground.

"Shut up, and let's go!"

"Why do you hit me all the damn time!?" Kero shouted.

"'Cause it's so damn fun," Li replied.

"Fun! I'll show you fun!!!"

"OW!!! You bastard you nearly ripped off my finger!!!"

"That was the point!"

"That's it you damn piece of shit you are going to die! Element Lighting!"

AN: Sorry if the ending wasn't all that, I was winging it. In fact a lot of the chapters after chapter 10 I've been making up as I went along. The only chapters that I knew exactly what I wanted to write was that whole Cli thing. Everything else I really had no idea what to write about. But I guess it all turned out okay. Oh and sorry for the delay, High School is major killer. I barely have time to write anymore. But I hope to have the next chapter out soon. When exactly, I'm not quite sure. So anyway, who is it that Sakura looks like to Kero? How is she able to transform like that? And will she able control it? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!


	21. Cliffside Danger

Seven Deadly Jewels Chapter 21 

Sakura yawned as she and the others made their way through a canyon. Mountains, cliffs, and boulders covered the area for miles. The landscape was filled with mountains, and hills. Cliffs covered the canyon, and boulders seemed to be everywhere. Not too far away was the massive crater that was once the forest of Situra. Sakura reached into her pocket, and pulled out the Kamikaze necklace, and the two strange cards she had gotten all of a sudden. She sighed mentally as she looked at them.

'I never would have thought mom's necklace could cause so much trouble. Ever since Tomoyo and I started to travel with Li, demon after demon just keeps coming after us,' she thought. 'Why though? I know the jewels Li is trying find are special, and increases someone's power, but does it do more than that when all seven are joined together?'

"Hey Sakura are you okay?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded as she stared at the jewel and the cards.

"It's just that, I just don't understand, what's the big deal with this little jewel? I mean right now it just looks so normal."

"Yeah, but in the hands of a demon, that little jewel could give it a major power boost, remember that one demon, the one that came after us the day we met Li?" Tomoyo reminded her.

"Yeah, he was pretty strong, but compared to demons like Mudo, Situra, and Hido that guy was nothing," Sakura said with a laugh.

"Yeah," Tomoyo agreed. "But have you noticed that the more jewels we get the more powerful the demons? I mean, the demon back home, Tugio, and Siga weren't all that powerful. But the Thunder Warriors, that Viga guy, Mudo, Hido, and Situra, you and Li just barely stopped, in fact, Viga and Mudo are still out there."

"So are you saying that the more we have these jewels, the more careful we should be right?" Sakura figured.

"Yeah, you never know what kinds of demons will be coming, or how powerful. So yeah, be more careful."

"Don't worry Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said with a smile. "I'll be fine." The girls were suddenly snapped out of their conversation when Li suddenly got into a fighting stance and was ready to draw his sword.

"What is it?" Tomoyo asked. Li's intense amber eyes scanned the high cliffs around them; small pebbles fell from the cliffs as a swift black shot across the cliffs in a blink of an eye.

"I thought I saw something," Li replied as he slowly came out of his stance.

"Whatever was there is gone now. Either that or you're just going insane," Kero said. He suddenly kissed the ground as Li walked passed him.

"Shut up you damn stuffed animal," he growled. Tomoyo scooped up Kero from his small hole in the ground as Sakura laughed.

"God I hate that guy," Kero mumbled.

OOOO

Meanwhile back on top of the cliffs, a middle-aged man was running for his life. He looked behind him; only to find the creature he was running from was only seconds behind him. The man tried to increase his speed, but the creature was too fast. In the end, the monster ended up in front of him, smiling at him with its fangs poised to bite.

"P-please spare me, I'll do whatever you like! But please spare me!" the man pleaded as he went to his knees. However, the creature ignored his pleas, and devoured him in a second. The monster smirked as it spat out the bones in a pile filled with the bones of humans, animals, and demons. It was about stand up, and go back when a mysterious figure appeared behind it.

"Stuffing your face again? Witmua?" the figure asked as the demon crouched down, and went into a human form. As it turned around, it turned out to be a woman. She had long white hair with a red cloak draped over her body. The woman known as Witmua hissed when she spotted the middle sized figure.

"What do you want, you know I don't like to be interrupted when I'm eating!" she exclaimed.

"I bring news," the figure said simply as it held its weapon at its side.

"News, what news?" Witmua asked.

"Situra, and Magabura have both been defeated and killed by the one called Li, and his little friends. Also, Erim-sama says they will be passing through your area soon, so be on your guard." Witmua chuckled as she turned around.

"Handling that kid will be a piece of cake," she said as she twirled her long white hair.

"Are you sure, there have been many who have said that, and they all have been killed." Witmua scoffed and started to walk away.

"Don't worry I'll get the job done."

"Lord Erim says that Lord Viga wants Li alive, so don't eat him."

"Just shut up, and let me do my job," the woman said, and faded away.

'I should probably keep a close eye on her,' the figure thought, and then disappeared.

OOOOO

By dusk, the canyons were slowly becoming pitch black. The once clear blue sky was only orange red patches in the now approaching nightfall. The stars were slowly making their entrance in the dark sky, and the half moon was replacing the sun as the big orb of light went down like a tired old man. The high orange cliffs were dark blue, and blended in with the night, making it harder for the small group to see.

"I'm hungry," Sakura complained.

"Same here," Kero said.

"Now that I think about it, we haven't had anything truly decent since the last time we're in town. How long ago was that?" Tomoyo asked.

"Weeks ago," Kero answered weakly. "During that whole Cli incident."

"Aw man, it's been that long? I'd give anything to have anything besides instant noodles," Sakura groaned. Li rolled his eyes as he walked ahead, he couldn't stand their wining. He stopped when he saw something red on the ground. The young man reached into his cloak, pulled out a fire talisman, and created a small fire to see. In front of him was a small red apple, and near it were some berries and grapes.

"Fruits?" he said as he picked it up. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero were suddenly behind him, and looked at the food on the ground.

"It beats instant noodles," Sakura smiled as she picked them up. Tomoyo gasped when she looked up the cliffs.

"Hey guys look, there's some kind of giant tree on that cliff!" she exclaimed. The tree was tall, but thin. The leaves covered the entire top of the thin tree, making the branches close to impossible to see. The leaves were filled with different kinds of fruits, and next to the tree was a small house with a fire burning in the window.

"And there's a house to! We don't get this lucky. Let's go see if there are any people there," Kero said. The small group was suddenly inside of one of Kero's shields and floating to the top of the cliffs. Sakura looked at Li in confusion when she saw him analyze the house with his intense amber eyes.

"Hey Li is something wrong?" she asked.

"It's all too convenient," he mumbled as he scanned the house for any demonic activity. When he didn't sense any demons or any other magic inside of the house or in the area, he still didn't calm down. When they reached the top of the cliffs, Li had his sword ready for anything. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero started to eat the fruits from the tree, and even saving some for later. Suddenly someone stepped out of the house, Li whirled around and drew his sword in an instant. The one who stepped out of the house was a woman with long white hair, and red robes wrapped around her. Her blue eyes looked at them with confusion.

"Hello there, you kids are new faces around here," she said kindly.

"Oh, we're sorry, we didn't know there was someone still living around here," Sakura replied as she placed the apple in her hands down.

"Oh it's okay. If you want, you kids can stay here the night. By the way, my name is Aumit," the woman said. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero all smiled brightly at the offer while Li just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"We'd love to!" Sakura exclaimed. They were soon led inside of the small house, while on the roof, the figure from earlier was watching the whole scene intensely.

'You'd better not mess this up, Witmua.'

OOOOO

The girls and Kero smiled brightly when Aumit brought out their meal. When she set it down, they started to eat hungrily. Li on the other hand, just sat in the corner, only take few bites at his food. Aumit smirked as she watched them eat.

'That's it kids, eat it all up. It's filled with a strong sleeping powder. Once they eat it, they'll be out the entire night. Giving me more than enough time to take the jewels.' Li suddenly stood up, and walked outside.

"What's his problem?" Tomoyo wondered.

"Ah, I'm more worried about that last piece of fish!" Kero exclaimed as he grabbed it.

"Would you like some more?" the woman asked.

"Of course. It's not everyday we get to have a meal like this on the road," Tomoyo replied. Sakura looked at Li as he stared at the stars deep in thought. The young man stared deeply at the stars as he stood outside, feeling the cool wind of the night.

'It's all too convenient,' he thought as he stared at the stars. 'A woman can't live here by herself. It's too rough of a terrain. Not only that, but powerful demons can reside here.' Suddenly a cold feeling ran through Li's body, in one motion, he spun around, and drew his sword. The person who was behind him was just Sakura, who yelped, and jumped back at the sight of Li's sword in her face.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly as he sheathed his sword.

"I was just wondering if you wanted anything to eat," Sakura said. "You didn't have to stick your sword in my face!" Li eyed the roof of the small house when he thought he saw movement in the shadows. He tried to sense the aura of whoever was up there, but he didn't sense anything.

'That's weird,' he thought.

"What is it?" Sakura asked him.

"It's nothing, and forget about the food, I'm not hungry." The two suddenly picked up heavy snoring coming from the house. Sakura looked in, and giggled when she saw Tomoyo and Kero flat on the floor sleeping.

"They used up more energy than I thought," Sakura thought out loud. Suddenly, a blue mist slowly blew into the room. Li instantly drew his sword, and covered his nose.

"Hey, don't breathe in the fumes, you'll be out like a light for hours," Li said. Sakura instantly covered her nose, and mouth, but the mist kept coming until it covered the entire room.

"Still awake eh?" a harsh voice growled from nowhere. "No matter, you'll both soon be out like lights." Aumit suddenly walked into the room with a smirk on her face.

"Why are you doing this Ms. Aumit?!" Sakura exclaimed. Aumit just laughed as she walked into the room.

"Foolish girl, my name is not Aumit!" she laughed. She suddenly started to change. Her head became smaller, and much more round, her tan skin was slowly replaced with deep red skin, and yellow stripes. The bottom part of her body became rounder like the abdomen of a spider. Her arms became thicker, and longer, along with her tongue. Below her new abdomen, eight long, and hair legs sprouted out along with a long stinger from her backside. "My name is Witmua!"

"Damn!" Li growled. "I should have known!" The chestnut haired boy rushed towards the Spider woman, and thrust his sword forward. Witmua just chuckled, and blew more blue mist at him.

"Spider Mist!" Li quickly jumped back, and got into a ready stance. He removed his hand from his nose, and mouth, and started to hold his breath. Witmua laughed as she watched him. "You might try to hold your breath, but it won't last! This mist will last as long I wish it to!" Li gripped his sword tighter, and attacked again. Witmua chuckled as she dodged his wild sword strikes. Li growled softly, and attacked with a swift veridical upward strike. Witmua laughed, and jumped to the side. The young man was suddenly knocked into a wall by one of her hairy legs.

'Damn! The mist keeps coming! I'm not sure how long my breath can last! Not only that, but with all this mist, I can barely see what I'm doing! Damn it!' Suddenly a strong wind blew out of nowhere, and started to blow the mist away. Li, and Witmua turned around, and saw Sakura using her wind power to blow the mist out of the room.

"Damn girl! She'll ruin everything!" Witmua suddenly leaped towards Sakura, and grabbed her by the neck. The Spider Demon pinned her against the wall, and squeezed her neck tightly. Sakura grabbed her hands, and tried to pry them off of her, but she was too strong. The young girl gasped for air, but she could barely breathe. "Get ready to die!"

"Element Fire!" Witmua screamed as the fire started to burn her skin. The Spider woman was suddenly kicked through the screen door of the house, and slid out of the house. Sakura fell to her knees and gasped for air.

"Thanks Li," she said with a smile. Li ignored her, and started to pursue the Spider Demon. Witmua was outside trying to get up, but Li's fire attack did more damage to her than she thought.

"Ready to give up?" Li asked as he stood over her with his sword ready to slice her head off.

"Damn you," she growled. She looked around her, and saw that she was near the edge of the cliff with Li in front, and a long way down behind. Witmua then spotted a cave in the middle of the cliff that was across from the one they were on. The Spider woman smirked, and made a fist.

"Last chance do you give up?" Witmua suddenly kicked the young man back with one of her hairy legs, and jumped towards the cave.

"Is she crazy!?" Sakura exclaimed when she saw her jump. Witmua suddenly shot out a thin thread of webbing that stuck to one of the rocks. The demon spider then swung on the thread like a rope, in an instant, Witmua was at the entrance of the cave, and ran in.

"Damn, how are we going to make it across?" Li growled. Sakura looked around, and saw the tree not too far away. She pulled out the Wood card, and held it up to the tree.

"Wood card, make a path for us out of this tree!" she exclaimed. The Wood sprit came out calmly, and gently out of the card, and slowly started to wrap itself around the tree. The tree suddenly grew longer, and fell. It was so long that it created a makeshift bridge that connected the two cliffs. Sakura smiled as the Wood sprit went back in her card. But when she went back to put it in her pocket, she felt that something was missing.

"What are you waiting for! Move your ass!" Li shouted as he made his way to the tree bridge.

"Witmua has my necklace!" Sakura exclaimed.

"What!!!" Li shouted. "How!!!!"

"It must have happened when she grabbed me!"

"You moron!!! How could you let that happen!?!!" Li shouted.

"It's not my fault!! I wasn't sure what was going on!" Sakura shot back.

"That's no excuse! You should always be a where of what's going around you! Especially if some damn spider is stealing one of the jewels!"

"Why do you care so much about those things! What's so special about them!" Sakura shouted.

"It's none of your business!!" Li snapped. "Now shut up, and let's go!" Sakura huffed, and followed him as they walked across the tree bridge. The anger and frustration Sakura felt from before vanished as she slowly made her way across the bridge. The bottom seemed nonexistent as she looked down through the darkness. Her legs felt like stone when she tried to move, the end seemed just too far way. She dizzy as she stood in the middle of the bridge, the end was too far away, and only getting further away, while the darkness of the seemingly bottomless pit came closer.

"I can't," she whispered softly.

"What the hell are you waiting for!" Li shouted when he made it across. "Move it!" Sakura tried to take a step, but her legs just wouldn't listen.

"I can't," she said again, only a little louder. Li groaned, and suddenly jumped in front of her.

"Damn it," he growled, and grabbed her arm. He then roughly pushed her across the bridge. Sakura sighed with deep relief when she was on the other side.

"Thank goodness," she sighed. "Thanks Li."

"Whatever," Li replied dryly, and without hesitation entered the cave. Sakura was about to enter when a cold feeling ran through her body. She shivered as she peered into the cave. "What is it? Don't tell you're afraid of caves too."

"It's not that, I'm getting a bad vibe from this place," Sakura replied.

"That must be Witmua's demon aura. Either that or you're feeling the souls of all those who have died here. But it could be both." Sakura hesitantly went into the dark and damp cave, holding her arms like she was in the cold, and constantly looking over her shoulder. The walls were moist, and filled with a green sticky liquid that covered some of the stalagmites and stalactites. Water ran down the stalactites, and hit the ground making the small puddle below it bigger. Dark red eyes watched her from the ceiling, and the ground. When she ran her hands against the wall she pulled back in disgust, on her hands was a clear white sticky substance with the same green liquid on the edges.

"Yuck!" she exclaimed. "What is this stuff!?"

"It must be her webs, and judging by how far they go in the cave, she's in pretty deep," Li said as he examined the walls. As they went deeper in the cave the more dark and confusing it became. The many twists, turns, side paths, and slopes could make anyone confused. Li created a fire by using his fire talisman, which made a small to guide them. Sakura looked around and saw many strands of spider webs, and spider trails that Li just seemed to not notice or just ignore, either way he wasn't mentioning them at all, which Sakura found odd. Eventually they made it to a fork in the rocky path. Li was about to go left until Sakura saw something shine through the darkness of the cave. It was some kind of red glow that lit up that entire section of the cave. Mixed in with the red glow was a faint pink shine that created a light that Sakura couldn't ignore, she decided to take a chance and go right.

"Li, I think we should go right," she announced.

"Why?" Li asked coldly.

"We should head for the red and pink lights, maybe that's where Witmua is."

"What lights?"

"What are you talking about? They're right there!" Sakura exclaimed as she pointed to where she saw the lights. When Li looked all he saw was a regular cave wall.

"Did you breathe in Witmua's poison fumes or something?"

"I know what I'm talking about Li! You may not be able to see it, but I can!"

"What so I should just suddenly do whatever you say just because you can see a couple of lights? Forget it." Sakura growled softly, he was so frustrating. She had never known anyone could be this selfish or cold.

"Well would be in your best interest if you did since you're probably missing something important!"

"Shut up, I'm doing things my way. You can go that way if you want, me I'm going this way," and with that Li disappeared down the dark path of the cave. Sakura huffed, and went down the other way without hesitation, using the light as her guide.

OOOOO

Li examined the walls of the path he took, the spider webs seemed to be getting stickier the deeper he went. He figured he was getting closer to the main web. As he walked his foot suddenly hit against something hard and long. He lowered his fire to the ground and saw a bone in front of him. Near it was another bone, only it was a finger. Li followed the bones thinking they would lead him to the main web. When he turned a corner his eyes widened, in front of him were countless human skeletons trapped in webs. In their hands were old weapons that showed they tried to fight back, but the spider seemed to have gotten them trapped. Against the walls were broken skeletons. Their bones scatted near them like a puzzle, and their skulls crushed.

"Must be where that spider witch devours her victims," Li figured as he walked past them. He suddenly stopped when he heard something. He spun around, and in a flash drew his sword, but he didn't see anything. Then the sound of footsteps coming down the path echoed off the walls. Li faced the entrance with his hands holding the hilt of his sword tightly. Eventually a man with long black hair in a high ponytail, and dark purple eyes stepped out of the darkness.

"I see a human," he said as he walked closer. "I haven't seen one in a while."

"Who are you?" Li asked as he went into a defensive stance. The man wore a purple gi with light armor over it. On his belt was a double-edged sword, and on his wrist was a bracelet. It was made of a dark gold that blended in with the darkness of the cave, there was a strange form of writing written around it. "A jewel."

"I would ask you to leave little human, but I haven't tasted your type in the longest time," he said as he licked his lips.

"Are you some kind of demon?" Li asked when he noticed his long ears.

"Yes. I am Yuotoku the lord of these mountains. And I believe my mate Witmua led you and your little friends here."

"Maybe she did, maybe she didn't," Li replied. Yuotoku laughed suddenly.

"It's good that you and your little girlfriend split up, it'll be easier for Witmua to devour her and take the rest of the jewels. Then, she'll kill your other friends too! I bet you're worried." The lord however was taken aback when Li just scoffed.

"Yeah right. To be honest I don't of any of those stupid girls, or that damn stuffed beast as my friends. Friends don't do anything for you. The only one you can trust is yourself. The only thing I'm interested in is that bracelet on your wrist." Yuotoku looked at the bracelet and smirked.

"What this, I found this about three or four years ago. It has given power beyond my wildest dreams. I can cause landslides, earthquakes, avalanches, and any part of the ground I can control! And I plan to keep it!"

'The Terra Bracelet,' Li thought. "Too bad for you, you got all this power from one jewel, and once I take it away you'll be nothing but lowly spider demon."

"And what makes you think you're going to take it away from me?" Yuotoku asked as he was about to draw his sword. Li smirked.

"I have a hunch." Yuotoku suddenly drew his sword, and went into a stance.

"I've had enough for this! You, human, will not take this jewel from me! Instead I shall be taking your life, and using your organs as my meals!"

"If that was supposed to intimidate or disgust me, then sorry it didn't work."

"Maybe, but this will!" Suddenly the spider lord shot out a blast of webbing from mouth. Li quickly jumped to the side, but the lord was already in front of him, and knocked him back with a swift kick to his stomach. Li clutched his stomach, and took a knee. "HA! On your knees already!" The lord walked closer, but suddenly the young man jumped to his feet, and slashed him across his chest, then stabbed him through his shoulder.

"You demons are always so easy to fool," Li said with a smirk. Yuotoku jumped back as he felt his wounds. Green blood oozed from his two wounds, but they didn't seem to bother him.

"It seems this maybe harder than I thought. But nevertheless, I will kill you!" he shouted and charged.

"We'll see about that!" Li yelled, and readied his sword.

CLANG!!!!!

OOOOO

Sakura made her way through the path following the bright light. She wondered why Li couldn't see it, or was it that he just didn't want to follow her for once. Whatever the reason, she was sure he wouldn't say it to her or anyone. Sakura decided to just forget it and follow the light. When she reached where the light was the brightest, she turned the corner, and readied herself for anything. In front of her were two high cliffs, not nearly as high as the ones outside, but still high for a cave. They were filled small rocks and ledges, perfect for climbing, but in between them was a grand spider web, the biggest Sakura had seen. The outside webbing was long and thick. They were stuck to four points in the cliffs giving the web support, then in the middle the webbing was thin, and filled with the green liquid from earlier. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw countless skeletons and decaying bodies trapped in the center part of the web. The expressions of fear, shock, and terror was still on their faces. In their necks and chests were two large and deep holes, most likely bite marks. The green liquid dripped from the wounds to the ground making a small puddle above the web.

"Impressed?" a cold, venom filled voice asked from above her. Sakura looked up, and saw Witmua appear on the cliffs. She suddenly jumped to her web, and smirked. "These humans were pathetic, hardly any taste on them. But you, I can feel the magic in you, I bet you'll taste delicious." Witmua slowly descended to the ground on a thin line of webbing with a dark smile on her face. She was giving off a strong red glow, and in her forehead was the pink glow.

"My necklace!" she exclaimed. "You put my necklace in your forehead!"

"So, what are you going to do about it kid?" Witmua asked slyly as she made her way close to Sakura. The young girl looked around until she saw a stick behind her. She quickly grabbed it, and turned it into her weapon.

"I'll show you what I'll do about it!" she shouted, and rushed towards the Spider demon. Sakura yelled with all her might, as she brought down her weapon, but her attack was stopped when Witmua caught it just above the blade. Sakura struggled to bring it down further, but Witmua was too strong. The young girl was suddenly knocked back by a strong kick from one of Witmua's hairy legs.

"Pathetic," she said with a laugh. Sakura got to her feet, and readied herself for another attack.

"I'll show you pathetic!" Sakura exclaimed, and charge again.

"Bring it on little girl!" Meanwhile watching from above the cliffs was the cloaked figure. He smiled under his hood as he watched Sakura and Witmua begin their fight, and in a small mirror in his hands he watched Li's fight with Yuotoku.

"This should be good," he mumbled as he watched.

AN: I am so, so, so, so, so sorry for the delay. I would have gotten this chapter out much sooner, but High School is a major killer. Homework, projects, and tons of other stuff. Not only that, but I had a lot of ideas for this chapter, and I wasn't sure which one to chose. First I had an idea to center this chapter on Li's past, but I reveled a little too much so I deleted that idea. Then I went for another appearance of Mudo, but that reveled too much about him too so I decided to do a Spider Demon fight, and a new jewel. I'll save those other ideas for much later. And for those of you who are waiting for Li and Sakura's fist kiss anytime soon, don't get your hopes up. It's been 21 chapters and Li has yet to call Sakura by her name, he's just been calling her stupid, idiot, etc. I really don't know when I'll put that in, maybe I won't. Nah, I'll do it sooner or later, most likely much, much later. Well anyway how will Li fair against the Spider Lord, Yuotoku? Will Sakura get her necklace back from Witmua? And who is the cloaked figure watching them? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. SEE YA!!!!


	22. Crimson

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 22

Quick AN: To Naine-san, a gi is a uniform that you wear when you take martial arts, and is worn in the training hall or dojo. They are usually plain white both the top and the bottom. If they are colored it's just one color. Many anime characters were them, a good example would be Goku, it's what he wears all the time, and another example would be Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin. Those guys wear gis all the time. So I hope this answers your question. Anyways on with the fic!

Li growled as he and Yuotoku crossed swords. The spider lord pushed Li back, knocking him back two steps, and attacked with a powerful thrust. The chestnut haired fighter swiftly dodged to the side, and countered with a fast kick to the back of his head. Yuotoku whirled around with a powerful horizontal slash, but Li quickly leapt into the air, and gave him a strong kick to his face, knocking him down.

"Give up yet?" Li asked as he landed with a grace. Yuotoku answered, by jumping to his feet, and attacking with fast slashes. Li quickly put up his sword, and started to block the slashes.

"I refuse to yield to a human!" Yuotoku yelled, and lunged with a fast thrust. Li quickly parried, and gave the spider lord a fast jab to his nose. Yuotoku suddenly grabbed his arm, and pulled him in a knee blow to his stomach, making him gasp in pain. The young man suddenly saw a fast sliver blur heading for his neck. In the blink of an eye Li leaned back, just narrowly missing the attack, and jumped back to escape the range of his sword.

"Element Lighting!" Yuotoku easily evaded, and brought down his sword with a fierce downward strike. Li quickly brought up his sword to block, and the two weapons collided with a loud clang! As the two struggled to push each other back, Yuotoku delivered a swift round kick to Li's ribs. The young man growled, but managed to give the spider lord a knee to his stomach. When he hunched over, Li took his chance, and pushed up on his sword. In an instant, the spider lord had two slash marks across his chest, and stomach, along with some bruises on his face.

"Damn," Yuotoku muttered as he spat. The black haired demon slowly rose to his feet, and smirked. "It's time I stopped playing around with you."

"Oh, and here I thought you were serious. But then again, how can anyone be serious with those crazy, child-like attacks?" Li said with a scoff.

"It's time I showed you, why I am the lord around here!" The jewel around his wrist started to emit a dark brown glow that Li recognized immediately

'He starting to use the jewel's power, and since it's been with him all this time, the jewel is no longer pure. It has become tainted with his demonic energy,' he thought.

"Suddenly not so talkative eh? It's about time you showed me the respect I deserve!"

"Spare me. The only thing you deserve is your head rolling off your shoulders." Yuotoku growled, and rushed towards him. Li easily dodged another downward strike, but it suddenly felt like a bull had just rammed him in his stomach. He coughed out some blood, and looked down to his Yuotoku's fist resting in his stomach. Li stumbled back still holding his stomach, but Yuotoku rushed towards him, and grabbed him by the head.

"Take this!" he chuckled, and hurled Li into the stone filled wall. The young man bounced off the wall like a ball, and fell like a rock.

'Damn it!' Li thought as blood ran down his forehead. 'It's like he has the power of at least twenty demons, and four strong men.'

"Aw, do you give up, so soon?" the spider lord asked as he walked towards him. Li grabbed his sword, and charged.

"I'll show you who's giving up!" he shouted, and shot towards the spider lord who only had a smirk on his face. "Lets see you smile at this!" Li attacked with a powerful horizontal slash that would have cut any man or demon in half, but as soon as the sword hit Yuotoku's stomach, it just bounced off.

"HA, HA, HA! You weak fool!" he laughed.

"There's no way!" Li exclaimed with a shocked expression on his face. "There's no way you could have stopped my sword with just your body!" Yuotoku laughed, and rammed Li to the ground with his shoulder.

"Well believe it!" the spider lord said, and slammed his fists on the ground. Li quickly rolled out of the way, and when he got to his feet he saw a large hole where Yuotoku's fists hit the ground.

'It has to be the jewel. I have to somehow get it off of him,' he thought as he went into a fighting stance. Yuotoku chuckled when he saw Li in his stance.

"Do you think you can beat me, Yuotoku the spider lord, with my power? You are a fool!"

"Many few people can call me that and live to talk about it," Li said calmly, and shot towards him. Yuotoku sheathed his sword as he saw Li come towards him. The young man leaped in the air with his sword over his head, ready to give him a powerful downward strike to his head.

"Baka," the spider lord muttered with a smirk, and leaped towards the chestnut haired boy. Li was taken aback when he saw the black haired spider demon jump towards him. He growled softly when he saw the smirk on his face, and brought down his sword with enough power to slice any man or demon in half. Yuotoku quickly held up his left arm, and stopped the sword attack like it was nothing. In an instant, Yuotoku gave Li a strong punch to his stomach, and slammed him into the ground with a powerful kick to his back. Li groaned as he struggled to get to his feet. He had broken two more of his ribs, his rib injuries from his fight with Magabura had yet to heal, and the two new injuries would only make things worse. The young man clutched his sides in pain when he tried to breathe. He wasn't sure how much of this pain he could take.

'I can't believe my damn luck,' he thought as he tried to get to his feet. Yuotoku laughed when he saw Li struggle.

"Look at you, you can barely stand up. What makes you think you can kill me and take my jewel? I am the lord of these cliffs, no mere human can kill me!" Yuotoku exclaimed.

"Shut up," Li growled. "I can't stand to listen to your voice." Yuotoku frowned, and raised his foot.

"Silence!" he shouted, and slammed his foot on the ground. The ground started to shake, and the small rocks from the walls started to shift and fall. A loud rumbling sound seemed to come from every direction, and the ground started to crack, and split. Li wasn't sure what was going on until it felt as though a pack of horses came, and rammed him into the wall of the cave.

"I see," he muttered as he spat out blood. "You created a small earthquake, but that was to only mask the true attack. Clever."

"And that isn't all," the spider lord chuckled, and raised his arm. "Take this." Suddenly a large boulder shot towards Li like a bullet. The chestnut haired boy quickly jumped to the side avoiding the attack, and in one motion he whipped out a talisman.

"Element Fire!" The blast of fire was so sudden, that Yuotoku had no time to react, and he was soon engulfed within the flames. As soon as Li heard the spider lord's cries of pain he smirked knowing he was finished. But when the flames parted, Li's smirk faded away, now on his face was an expression of pure shock and surprise. When Yuotoku emerged, his pale skin had completely burned off; his clothes were nothing but patches with smoke rising from them. His hair was burned off as well, and all that was left were five smoking strands. The jewel was still on his wrist, his now stone wrist. In fact his entire body was now made out of nothing but pure rock.

"How do you like my power now!" Yuotoku asked in a deep demonic voice. Li shot him a glare, and went into a stance.

'This'll be tougher than I thought.'

OOOOO

Witmua laughed as she dodged Sakura's swings at her, the girl's attacks were too wild, and so unfocused. Sakura growled softly and swung again, but Witmua dodged it like it was nothing. The spider demon laughed as she watched Sakura.

"That weapon you have, you swing it like it was a club. How do you expect to defeat me when you barely know how to use your own weapon?" Sakura tightened here grip, and charged again.

"Take this!" she shouted, and swung again. Witmua jumped back, but this time a powerful blast of wind blew her back into one of the cliffs. While she was still recovering, Sakura attacked again with a fast slash across her chest. The spider woman growled, and kicked Sakura back with two of her long hairy legs.

"My turn girl!" she exclaimed as she leapt into the air. "Spider Mist!" As soon as Sakura saw the green mist shoot towards her, she quickly fired a blast of wind. The wind blew the mist right back at Witmua, who fell from the air when hit with her own attack. As soon as she hit the ground, Sakura ran towards her ready to finish her off. She slowly approached the spider demon, and raised her weapon. But in a flash, Witmua jumped to her feet, and sank her long sharp fangs in Sakura's shoulder. The young girl's eyes widened as the pain traveled up her arm and into her brain. As soon as the pain reached the brain, Sakura screamed in pain. She dropped her weapon, and clutched her bleeding shoulder with tears of pain rolling down her face. Sakura dropped to her knees clutching her shoulder with the blood oozing from between her fingers, and running down to her fingertips.

'I….can't move my arm,' she thought. Witmua on the other hand started to laugh when she saw Sakura on her knees in pain.

"HA, HA, HA, you really are just a weak little girl! HA! But you're in luck, I will gladly free you of your pain," the spider demon said, and opened her mouth to sink her teeth into Sakura's neck. The young girl managed to roll to the side, avoiding Witmua's attack. Sakura was still in pain, and clutching her bleeding shoulder. Her heart started to race when she saw Witmua make her way towards her. The demon's fangs were out, and ready to tear her to shreds, and her eight long legs moved slowly, and carefully as if she was stalking her. Sakura wasn't sure what to do, her weapon was too far to reach, and even if she could reach it, she couldn't do anything, she was just in too much pain.

'What do I do?' she thought as she clutched her shoulder. 'It just hurts so much.'

"Now get ready to be devoured," Witmua whispered.

OOOOO

Li quickly dodged a powerful punch from Yuotoku that made a big hole in one of the walls. The young man then lunged towards the spider lord, and thrust his sword at his leg. Yuotoku laughed when the sword only bounced off of his stone leg. Li quickly jumped back to avoid any sudden attacks, but Yuotoku stomped his foot. The chestnut haired boy was sent flying back by the force of a small but powerful earthquake, and hit a wall.

"Element Lighting!" Yuotoku smirked and let the attack hit him head on. Li growled when his attack only bounced off of his hard hide. "Shit!" Yuotoku laughed with his deep voice as he made his way towards Li.

"Ready to die kid?" he asked with a confident smirk. Li growled, and rushed towards him again.

"Element Fire!" Yuotoku just laughed when Li realized the fire had no effect on him anymore.

"Fool! My body is completely made of rock now! Fire has no effect on my hard shell! This mistake will cost you your life!" In a flash, Yuotoku delivered a powerful punch to Li's side, breaking another rib. Li yelled out in pain as the pain from the four broken ribs paralyzed him. The young man couldn't move or breathe without feeling this immense amount of pain.

"Damn it," Li growled as he used his sword to get up. Yuotoku smirked, and lunged towards Li. "Element Water!" The water didn't even slow down the demon, Yuotoku just kept coming. The chestnut haired boy had no time to react, and in a flash, Li was hoisted into the air with Yuotoku's large hands wrapped around his neck. Yuotoku laughed as he watched Li struggle to escape from his hold, but the more he fought, the tighter the hold became.

"HA, HA, HA, HA! It's pointless to fight this boy! Face it, you've lost! No one can beat, Yuotoku, the spider lord!" Li choked, and struggled as he tried to escape, but Yuotoku's grip was too tight. His sight slowly became blurry, and dark. When he tried to breathe the air seemed to be trapped in his throat, he could feel his lungs slowly begin to shut down, along with the rest of his body. Eventually his eyes closed, and his arms dropped. The spider lord began to laugh hysterically when he felt Li's limp body in his hands. "I told you! I told you that you couldn't defeat me!"

"Oh really?" Li's cool voice said all of a sudden.

"WHAT!" Suddenly Li grabbed the spider lord by his face, and electricity ran all through Yuotoku's body. The water on him only amplified the power of the lighting, and eventually Yuotoku fell with a loud thud with smoke rising from all over his body. Li breathed out with relief as he sheathed his sword. He was about to take the jewel from Yuotoku when the spider lord's red eyes snapped open, and he jumped to his feet.

"Now what?" Li growled as he quickly jumped back to avoid any sudden attacks. Yuotoku growled, and slammed his fists on the ground. The earthquake he created was stronger than the ones he used before. Li tried to dodge, but he couldn't escape. He was suddenly blasted back near the skeletons with Yuotoku not too far away.

"Eat this!" A sudden blast of spider threads wrapped around Li in a blink of an eye. His arms were spread far out, making it impossible for him to reach his sword, and talismans. His legs were wrapped so tightly, he couldn't even move his toes; he was trapped.

"Shit!" he growled. Yuotoku chuckled as he slowly made his way towards him. His fangs were drawn out, ready to sink them into the young man's body.

"Now get ready to die."

OOOOO

Sakura shivered as the female spider demon slowly made her way towards her with her fangs dripping with a green liquid that Sakura figured was some type of poison. The young girl couldn't move her arm, if she did it just shot indescribable pain through her body, pain she just couldn't handle. Witmua laughed as she made her way towards her.

"Don't even bother trying to move your arm. My poison rendered that arm of your completely useless. It will do the same to your entire body eventually, but don't worry. You'll be in my belly long before that happens."

"I…. I…I won't let you do this!" Sakura said defiantly, as she tried to get to her feet. Witmua just laughed at her attempts.

"Foolish girl! Many have said that, and look at where they ended up, in my stomach. You should have heard their screams. Especially the children that always makes things even better." When Sakura looked up at the giant spider web, her eyes widened when she saw the bones of children no older than five or six. But what scared her the most was the fact that she could actually hear their screams for help, and mercy. As she looked at their bones, she could see everything that happened for some reason.

"Please! Please don't eat me!" she heard a girl scream.

"Mommy! Please save me mommy!" a boy yelled with all his might.

"I don't want to die! Sister, sister please help me!"

"It'll be over soon," the older girl said as she clutched her brother. Sakura's bangs covered her eyes as she lowered her head. The screams of the children, and their mothers pleading to Witmua to spare their children, were only making the rage within her build. The young girl had never felt this angry or felt this much hate towards one person.

"How…how could you?" she asked with venom in her voice. "You've slaughtered countless innocent children, for no reason at all."

"HA, HA, HA! I do have a reason! Even I need to eat every once and a while. And human flesh is always a good meal. The kids might not fill me, but it's the thrill of chasing them, trapping them, and hearing their screams that make me hunt them. Pregnant women fill me the most. I just love chewing through their stomach, and to their wombs. It's like eating two people at once. I love it." Suddenly something inside of Sakura just snapped, her hair started to fly up in the air like it was in the middle of a windstorm, and her voice became filled with ice.

"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" she screamed with all her might. A powerful white aura started to surround her, along with an extremely bright light, brighter than ones before it.

"What is this! Some type of trick!" Witmua exclaimed as she tried to escape from the light. Sakura's hair went down to her waist, and her skin paled to match the pale light she was emitting. This time however, not only did her hair grow, it changed to white. Her bright emerald eyes became a dark pink, and her young girl figure changed into the body of a young woman.

"Witmua," Sakura said softly, but coldly. "You have taken the lives of countless people, and you show no remorse for your actions. For these crimes, you shall meet the same fate as your victims."

"What kind of attack is this!" Witmua exclaimed in pure fear. There seemed to be two voices coming out of Sakura as she talked. The girl voice she usually had, and a woman's voice. The female spider demon stepped back as Sakura slowly made her way towards her.

"Now who is the one terrified."

"Get away from me!" Witmua screamed as she started to step back faster.

"You will pay for what you have done," Sakura said coldly.

"Stay back!"

"You shall pay."

"SPIDER MIST!" Witmua shouted with all her might, and unleashed the poison gas that took up the entire section of the cave. However, Sakura had no look of worry on her face what so ever. With just a simple wave of her hand, the mist was dispersed. Witmua was now climbing one of the canyons trying to escape. "I have to find Yuotoku! He'll know what to do!" Sakura started to suddenly float into the air, and in no time at all she was on top of the canyon before Witmua.

"You shall not escape," the girl said. To say Witmua was absolutely terrified, there were no words that could describe how truly scared she was. Sakura merely outstretched her palm, and Witmua was blown off of the cliff in seconds. As soon as she hit the ground Sakura was standing over her, with the same ice cold expression on her face, and her cold empty pink eyes. Witmua quickly jumped to her feet and tried to run, but Sakura suddenly appeared in front her. In an instant, a powerful blow from Sakura's weapon knocked the spider demon far back. It was as though Witmua was the ball, and Sakura had the bat.

"Spider Thread!" Spider webbing suddenly wrapped around Sakura, and she was covered from her neck down. "HA! Try to kill me when you're trapped in that!" With no effort at all, Sakura broke out from her web prison, and shot in front of Witmua with her weapon raised.

"Die," she whispered in her ear. Before Witmua had a chance to even widen her eyes, Sakura brought down her weapon giving Witmua a fatal blow. Endless amount of blood oozed out of a long, deep, and thick slash that started from the top of her shoulder to her stomach. She would die in only a matter of minutes.

"How….how did a mere girl….manage…to kill…me?" she some how managed to choke out. Even though she was on the ground with a fatal wound given to her, Sakura still wasn't finished with her. The girl grabbed her by the hair, and pulled her up.

"You will pay for your crimes," she whispered.

"What….are….you talking about? I….I'm finished," Witmua said weakly.

"No," Sakura replied coldly. "Simply you dieing won't be enough for you to pay. You must suffer."

"What?" Suddenly Sakura gave Witmua another slash to her chest, making the blood even worse. The spider demon cried in pure pain, but Sakura was far from finished. In the blink of an eye she gave Witmua two more deep slashes across her body.

"You must pay." Sakura said, and gave her another deep slash.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Witmua cried, but Sakura only gave her more slashes. "I'm finished!"

"No. You will pay." Sakura then sliced off her left arm, and cut off her fangs. When the spider demon was about to fall to the ground, Sakura grabbed her again, and slashed off five of her eight legs. Blood was everywhere, on the ground, on Witmua, on Sakura's weapon, even on Sakura herself. Her pure white hair was covered in the dark red blood of Witmua. Her hands were covered in the red fluid, but she didn't stop. Sakura sliced off the spider demon's fingers, and slashed off all her hair. Then in one swift blow, sliced her in half, but she was still slightly alive.

"S….s…..st….stop," Witmua said extremely weakly, but Sakura only sliced off her head as a response. When her head rolled to her feet, Sakura picked it up, and removed the jewel. The pink glow was now gone, all that was left was a dark red light that only seemed to shine brighter when Sakura touched it. The white glow had vanished, and Sakura started to slowly return to normal. However when she did return to normal, her innocent eyes widened at the sight of her. There was the body of Witmua, or what was left of it in pieces, blood filled pieces. Her arm, her legs, her fangs, her hair, all it was covered in blood. She dropped the jewel as she stared at the gore filled scene in front of her. Her eyes widened even more when she saw all the blood on her hands. Tears started to form in her eyes as she fell to her knees.

"Did…I….did I…..do this?" she whispered in terror. What had she done? She couldn't even cover her eyes as she cried, her hands were just too soaked in blood. She dropped her weapon, and held her shoulders. In a matter of seconds, a flood of tears ran down her eyes. Unknown to the girl the dark red glow of the jewel had vanished the bright pink glow had returned.

"Interesting," the cloaked figure mumbled as he watched the young girl cry.

OOOOO

Li growled as he tried to break out of the webbing Yuotoku had him in, but the webbing was just too strong. The spider lord chuckled, and was ready to devour the young man trapped in his web.

"You know, this is exactly how others died. They died struggling, and pleading for mercy just like you. Except you haven't begged for me to spare your life yet." Li just scoffed.

"I don't beg."

"Come now, this just makes it boring," Yuotoku said as he circled around Li. "Just one little plea for mercy. That's all I ask."

"Are you going to eat me or not?" Li asked impatiently, not taking his eyes off Yuotoku for a second.

"You actually want to be eaten? That's new."

"No, I just can't stand listening to you. I'd rather be eaten than to have to listen to your voice anymore." Yuotoku growled softly, he was about to grant Li his wish, when he spotted something around his neck.

"Oh what's this?" he asked, and pulled off the necklace Li always wore. "A necklace? A wonder if that has any power in it."

"Give that back to me," Li growled dangerously.

"Or what? Remember you can't you move," Yuotoku said as he swung the necklace right in front of Li.

"Give it back now!" the young man growled.

"No, I'm curious if it has any power in it," Yuotoku said and started to dangle it over his mouth. Li just spat, and lowered his head.

"Have it your way then," he whispered.

"Hm? Giving up are we?" Yuotoku asked as he stood in front of Li with a triumphant grin on his face.

"Oh great beast Raijou, I call upon thee. I ask thee to fill my body with your divine powers," Li mumbled.

"What are you muttering about?" Yuotoku asked as he stepped closer to Li.

"I ask that your strength be my strength, your powers my powers, our bodies one, so I may send my foe straight to hell!" Li shouted and shot his head back up. Suddenly Li's body started to give off a bright yellow glow. Sparks started fly all around him, and his hair started to stand on end as if he was covered in static electricity.

"What's going on?" Yuotoku exclaimed as he stepped back in shock. In a matter of seconds Li's body was completely covered in electricity, and his hands were swarming with sparks. Li smirked, and with no trouble at all, he broke free of Yuotoku's web. "Impossible! No one has ever escaped from my webs!"

"There's a first time for everything!" Li shouted, as he lunged towards the spider lord.

"HA No matter how much electricity you have, it can never penetrate my rock hard skin!" Yuotoku yelled confidently as he threw a punch. Li quickly caught his punch, and unleashed an extremely powerful amount of electricity into Yuotoku. The spider lord stepped back in shock, but he still managed a smirk. "See! I told you! Your electricity cannot penetrate my skin!" Li just smirked.

"Look again you moron," he said coolly. Yuotoku looked at his hand, and his eyes widened when he saw his fingers suddenly fall off. Soon his entire hand started to crack, and fall apart into small stones.

"How!" Yuotoku exclaimed. Li lunged again, and raised his right hand.

"No matter how hard your skin might be, it's still skin!" Li shouted. "Now behold the power of Raijou! The Thunder Beast!" Li then clasped his hand around Yuotoku's face, unleashed even more electricity into his body. The spider lord yelled out in pain as the electricity penetrated his rock shell, and went straight into his organs. When Li let go, Yuotoku stepped back, with his leg shaking like he was in an earthquake.

"Impossible," Yuotoku said weakly as he stepped back. As soon as that word escape his mouth, the stone that was his skin cracked. It broke down into nothing but small pebbles and dust. Li breathed with relief, but suddenly a powerful burning feeling on his back made him fall to his knees.

'Must be a side effect of summoning Raijou's power. Either that or…' The chestnut haired boy quickly crawled to the pile of rock that used to be Yuotoku. He dug through it with the burning feeling running up and down his back, and the pain of his broken ribs. As soon as he found his necklace, he quickly put it on, and the pain from his wounds disappeared. Then he searched for the Terra Bracelet, once he found it, and he put his cloak over it to protect himself from the evil demonic aura. Suddenly a massive earthquake hit the cave, making it shake like crazy. The stalactites, and stalagmites all collapsed, along with the skeletons trapped in the web. 'Shit! Better get out of here and fast!'

OOOOO

Sakura slowly made her way back through the tunnel. Her eyes were empty, and filled with sadness. The image of Witmua's mangled body flashed through her mind. She stared down at her bloodstained hands, and asked herself how she could have done such a horrible thing. She knew her rage was telling her to make Witmua suffer, but not like that. She didn't even remember doing it, but she did remember seeing crimson blood everywhere.

"What have I done?" she whispered to herself. The poor girl was so far off in thought that she didn't even notice that the cave was falling apart around her. She didn't even notice Li run out from the tunnel he went through.

"What the hell do you think you're doing you moron?" he yelled. "We have to get the hell out of here!" When Sakura didn't move, Li grabbed her by the wrist, and started to run. He was so focused on escaping that he didn't realize that Sakura was covered in blood or that she managed to get the jewel back. The rocks from the cave started to crumble as the earthquake continued. Li ran as fast as he could with Sakura. Eventually he saw the way they came in. In a flash they were out of the cave, but they still had to cross the tree bridge to be safe. Li went in front while Sakura followed slowly behind with her eyes down, and empty. When they were about half way across the tree, something suddenly swooped down, and sliced the whole tree in half with one blow.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked slowly as if in a daze. Li shot her a "what are you blind?" look, but when she didn't respond, he raised an eyebrow. The chestnut haired boy quickly grabbed his sword, and stabbed into the cliff, saving them. He grabbed Sakura's arm, and started to pull up. As they neared the top, Li saw a figure leap across the morning sky. His golden eyes caught sight of Li as he made his way through the sky. The strange figure smirked, and held up the Terra Bracelet.

"What!" Li exclaimed. "When he get it?"

"I'll just be holding onto this for a while," the figure said with a laugh, then disappeared into the morning sun.

"Who was that?" Li wondered.

OOOOO

"Ah that was a good sleep," Tomoyo said with a sigh as she stretched.

"Yeah I haven't sleep this good in a while," Kero agreed. Tomoyo raised an eyebrow when she saw Li and Sakura make their way back, with tired looks on their faces.

"Where were you two all night?" she asked. Sakura's eyes just widened, and she suddenly ran into her best friend's arms.

"Oh Tomoyo! It was so terrible!" she cried as countless tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Sakura, what happened? Li what happened?" the raven-haired girl asked, but Li ignored her. He had other things on his mind.

'Who was that? I didn't sense any aura from him at all. So he's not a demon or a human with magical abilities like me. So how could he move so fast? And those golden eyes.' The young man's eyes then widened. 'It can't be, but there's no other explanation. Could that have been….'

AN: Well what do you know, another cliffhanger. I'm so evil! Anyways a nice long chapter, I hope you guys are happy. It took me forever to write it. I made this chapter longer since the last chapter was pretty short when it came to the events. There were only like two or three major things going on so I decided to make this one filled with mystery and other stuff. So who was the cloaked figure? Is he someone Li knows? Will Sakura snap out of the state she's in now? How will this affect her? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Oh, and sorry about the delay. High School is a major time killer. I can only write a little bit every day, that's a page or two. But I'll to get the next one out sooner. So anyways RR. See ya!


	23. The Golden Eyed Warrior

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 23

Li grunted as he wrapped his hands with pieces from his cloak in front of the fire they had built earlier that night. They were now a meadow with the high cliffs, and caves of the canyon behind them in the distance. The stars were glowing brightly, and the half moon in the sky shone brightly. The high grass gently danced in the light wind of the night with the small lights of the fireflies flying around them. However, unlike the night, Li and the others were nowhere near calm.

Tomoyo sighed as she ate the rest of her ramen. Sakura and Li had barely said anything since morning. She had gotten used to Li saying close to nothing, but Sakura had barely said two words all day. She understood why though. When they started to leave the canyon, Sakura told her everything. She told her how Aumit was really the demon Witmua, and how she and Li chased her into the cave. Sakura then told her about the fight against her, and how she had gotten into an unspeakable rage when Witmua described hunting down children. Tomoyo was shocked when Sakura told her how when she came to, Witmua's body was in pieces, and she was covered in her blood. Tomoyo sighed again, and watched her best friend as she slowly ate.

'Oh Sakura,' she thought.

Sakura started eat her ramen bit by bit, but she just couldn't eat. The image of Witmua's mangled body was haunting her mind. The young girl stared at her hands, and remembered how they were saturated in her blood. Even though she had washed it off, she just couldn't forget how it felt in-between her fingers. Or how her weapon was covered in it too. What was worse of all for the young girl was that, she didn't realize she was doing it. All she remembered was going into a blind rage, and blacking out for a few minutes. At first she thought Witmua's venom had gotten to her, but when she woke up, there was crimson blood everywhere. Her legs, her arm, her fangs, her torso, everything was just cut apart like she was meat. Her father had always told her that when you felt rage like that, you do things that are truly cruel or unforgivable, and one way or another you will always regret them. Now she understood what he meant.

'What have I done?' she thought as she picked at her food.

Li stared deep into the flames as he sat cross-legged. His cup of ramen was untouched with the chopsticks still on top. He had more on his mind now than just eating. The young man glanced down at his now wrapped hands. During the course of the day, they started to burn, and cause him pain every time he tried to pick up something. Eventually his hands started to develop third degree burn marks, they looked as though he had soaked them in lava. He figured it was just another side effect of summoning Raijou's powers. Right now though he was concerned more about the figure he saw yesterday. His mind went back to when he saw him soar through the air with the jewel in his hands, and he also remembered how easily he destroyed the thick tree they were using as a bridge. He couldn't sense any aura from him, so there was no way he had any powers. Then there his eyes, Li had only seen those gold piercing eyes only once, and the more he thought about, the more he thought it was true.

'There's no doubt in my mind. That had to be….' But Kero interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey are you going to eat that?" he asked pointing at his untouched cup. Li growled, and picked up the cup.

"You want it, then have it!" he shouted, and slammed the cup on Kero's back. The little beast was trapped under the large cup in a fraction of a second.

"Get it off me! Get it off me!" Kero exclaimed. Tomoyo giggled a little, and lifted the cup off of Kero. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Just shut up you damn stuffed animal! Shut up, and leave me alone!" Li shouted back, as he turned around. Tomoyo sighed as she watched Kero give Li a death glare. The black haired girl turned to her friend who was still only picking at her food.

"Sakura are you okay? I mean, you're barely eating."

"I'm….fine," Sakura replied slowly.

"Sakura you can't just stay like this. Sure what happened was horrible, but you have to move on Sakura. The past is the past."

"You didn't see it Tomoyo!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly, taking her best friend aback. "You didn't see her body hacked into pieces, with her hair and fangs on one side, and her arm and leg on the other! You didn't see her head right by your feet, or felt her blood run through fingers. You didn't see any of that."

"Oh Sakura," Tomoyo said as she embraced her best friend. Li didn't bother to look or listen to a word Sakura said. He was too busy thinking of the figure that flew through the air.

'There's no doubt about it. He's still alive,' he thought as he slowly dozed off.

OOOOO

The next morning, the small group had finally made it into a town. The stores and houses weren't small huts, but they weren't grand buildings either. Large crowds of people seemed be everywhere in this town. Storeowners always had long lines, and the loud clinging of gold hitting the tables was in every store. The group decided to take a quick rest in a small restaurant before moving on any longer. Tomoyo ordered them three breakfast meals, while Li just had some water. As he drank he couldn't help but overhear the conversation between two young men behind him.

"Did you hear? They found another one," the first boy said half excited and half regrettably.

"Yeah I know. Was the victim like the last couple we've had?" the second asked.

"Yeah. The body was filled with thick slash marks, and his some of his bones were crushed. Like an elephant stomped on him or something."

"What kind of weapon does that?"

"They have no idea. I think they're still cleaning up the scene. It's just passed the flower shop." Li suddenly stood up, and started to head for the door.

"Where are you going Li?" Tomoyo asked.

"Out," he said coldly, and went out the door. As he walked out, a girl around Sakura and Tomoyo's age walked in. She had brown hair in two pigtails, and brown eyes. She looked around to find a vacant seat, and when she saw Sakura and Tomoyo her eyes brightened.

"Sakura! Tomoyo!" she cried excitedly. The two girls turned around, and smiled when they saw their old friend.

"Chiharu!" they both exclaimed with smiles.

"How are you guys?" she asked as she sat down. "It's been so long!"

"I dunno, I think it's been like a year or two since we last saw each other," Tomoyo replied.

"This is so exciting! I never would have expected you guys to show up here all of a sudden. What are you doing on the road anyway?" the brown haired girl asked.

"Well, let's just say we've been doing some traveling," Tomoyo answered.

OOOOO

The loud murmur of people reached Li's ears as he walked down the road. He had past the flower shop a while ago, and was starting to think that he might have missed something while the two boys were talking. But when he saw a large crowd of people huddled around something he knew he had reached the right place. The authorities were keeping the people back while they transported the body away for more tests, and analysis.

"Well how bad is it?" he heard one of the officers ask.

"Bad," the other said with a sigh as he covered the body. "He's covered in thick slash marks, and the bones in his arm and ribs are broken far beyond anyone's repair. If he lived, he could never use that arm again." The officers then placed the body on a stretcher, and placed it inside of a carriage. The horse powered carriage then sped off as soon as the rider gave the horse a signal.

"Okay folks nothing else to here, go home." The crowd soon broke up, leaving only Li, and the few remaining officers still trying clean up the blood. As Li approached the scene he suddenly felt a blade near his neck.

"Hands in the air now," the voice said sternly. With pure speed, Li reached into his cloak, and drew his sword. In an instant he spun around, and faced his opponent with his near his face. His opponent was a young man around his age with short black hair, a blue officer uniform on, armed with a spear with a long blade, and a wide smile on his face. "You haven't changed much have you Syaoran?" Li just growled.

"Damn it Yamazaki! I've always hated when you do that! What the hell are you doing here?"

"The question you should be asking is what are you doing here?" Yamazaki replied. Li just gave him a cold glare. "Okay, never mind then."

"Yamazaki sir, what is the matter?" the remaining officers asked as they ran up to him.

"Oh it's nothing, just catching up with an old friend. Is the body on the way to our analysis camp?"

"Yes sir, but still are you sure that it will make without ambush this time?" an officer asked.

"Hard to say, we just need to watch what happens that's all," Yamazaki replied. "Now go back to cleaning up that mess." The officers saluted and went back to work.

"You're the commanding officer?" Li asked as he sheathed his sword. Yamazaki nodded.

"Yep. Not the easiest job in the world, but I like it. Now let's go talk somewhere else. Let's go to my dojo."

"You have a dojo too?" Li asked. Yamazaki nodded.

"But of course. With this town in the state that it's in I think it's important that the people learn to defend themselves don't you?" Li just scoffed, and put his hands in his sleeves.

"Whatever."

OOOOO

"So you two have been traveling with this Li go nowadays huh?" Chiharu said as she drank some juice. Tomoyo nodded. "That sounds so exciting! I wish I could meet someone like that! And go on that kind of trip!"

"Come on Chiharu it's not all that great," Tomoyo said.

"Are you kidding! You get to see the world, meet new people, and have adventures! It sounds so cool!" the brown haired girl exclaimed.

"Yeah, and we have to get up at the crack of dawn, travel all day and sometimes all night, run from demons, fight demons, and I could go on for a while," Tomoyo said.

"But still it just sounds so exciting! My fiancé is always working, or away so I get bored and lonely sometimes," Chiharu whispered.

"You have a fiancé Chiharu?" Sakura asked with a smile.

"Yeah, well our parents kind of arranged the whole thing, but I couldn't help but fall for him after a while. He's smart, funny, clever, sweet, but sometimes he can stretch the truth about things, or sometimes he just lies about things. It's pretty funny to see who would believes his crazy stories," Chiharu said with a giggle.

"He sounds fine to me," Tomoyo smiled.

"Yeah congratulations," Sakura agreed.

"Thanks you guys. So tell me, what kind of demons have you guys gone up against?" she asked excitedly. Sakura suddenly frowned and looked down. As soon as Chiharu brought that up she suddenly remembered Witmua's body in pieces, and the look of pure fear on her face as she stared at her head. Tomoyo looked at Sakura worriedly, and sighed.

"Chiharu can we talk about that later?" she asked. Chiharu gave her a confused look.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'll tell you later," Tomoyo said simply. Chiharu was about to ask another question, but she decided to drop it when she saw the expression of deep guilt on Sakura's face. She sighed, and decided to lighten the mood.

"Hey, you guys what go shopping? They have really cool stores, and they even have things you can only find here."

"Sure Chiharu, but how much money do you have?" Tomoyo asked.

"Ah, I'll just put on my fiancé's tab, now are you guys in or not?" Tomoyo smiled, and nodded, but Sakura only gave her a half smile.

"Sure," she said simply.

OOOOO

Yamazaki's dojo had a wide, and long outer wall, with a three or four story house on the inside. On the outside grounds, there was a large training area with at least thirty students practicing with Yaris(1) and swords in blue gis. The students were each in different groups with one or two higher-ranking students instructing them. On the inside was the normal training hall with even more students, even though they were mostly small children. There weapons hanging on the walls each with a name and the brief history or legend behind it. On the side there were stairs leading to different rooms, and bedrooms. Yamazaki led Li to the main room where he studied all his cases, and where he did most of his thinking.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked.

"Whatever," Li replied.

"I'll be right back," the commanding officer said, and walked out of the room. Li looked around the room, and saw a table filled with papers, and blood samples from victims. He turned around and saw a small shrine in the corner to Yamazaki's mother, and father. What really caught his eye was the sword lying on top of the mini shrine. As he stared at it he heard voices, voices that he would probably never forget.

"_You can't You can't do this!" _

"_Just watch me." _

"_You're crazy! Killing me won't solve a thing!" _

"_Or will it?" _

"_Stop it!" _Li suddenly snapped out of his trance when Yamazaki placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm back with the tea," he said. "Are you okay?" The look of surprise and shock disappeared in an instant as Li answered.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

OOOOO

The girls had gone through most of the stores in the area, and were going to the next one. They already had tons of bags, and poor Kero had to carry all of them in his floating shield.

"Wow you're pet beast comes in handy," Chiharu said.

"Yeah he's good for getting us out of a jam. But Chiharu, are you sure your fiancé can pay for all this?" Tomoyo asked.

"Don't worry about, he's used to pay for my little shopping runs. Now come on, you guys need new shoes." Tomoyo looked behind her, at Sakura who was still in a daze. She sighed, she had to figure out a way to snap her out of this.

"Sakura, you don't even remember what happened. All you know is that when you came to Witmua was in pieces. So it's possible that someone else did it," Tomoyo said.

"No Tomoyo. I was the only one there, it had to have been me. There's no other explanation," Sakura replied.

"But Sakura, this just isn't like you. I mean you can't just become depressed every time you kill a demon."

"I didn't just kill her Tomoyo! I butchered her like meat! When I saw the bones of those kids, and listened to her say how she enjoyed it I lost it. All I could think about was to make her suffer. And I did just that. What will happen if I lose it like that again? Who else will be butchered like that Tomoyo? You, Kero, Li, or someone else?"

"Sakura, if you didn't do what you did, how many more children and women would be devoured by Witmua? In a way you saved other kids' lives," Tomoyo said.

"But Tomoyo, even if that is true, I don't feel any better. I just feel like a killer, like I'm no better than Witmua," Sakura whispered fearfully. Tomoyo put her hands on Sakura's shoulders, looked straight at her with a stern look on her face.

"Sakura, listen, you…are…NOT a killer. You aren't Witmua. You're just you. I admit from what you've told me you went a little too far, but you can't brand yourself as a killer. Killers are heartless monsters, they don't care about anything, but that's not you at all Sakura. You're the most caring person I know, someone like you could never be branded a killer."

"But Tomoyo…" Sakura began, but the black haired cut her off.

"No buts Sakura. If you continue to think like this, you'll always be this way, and miss out on so much in your life. Is that what you want? To miss out on the beautiful things that life has to offer just because you feel remorse for some demon that was devouring innocent children? Does that make sense to you?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura looked down as she thought about what Tomoyo was telling her.

"I guess….it doesn't," Sakura admitted slowly. The amber haired girl suddenly smiled, and embraced her friend. "Thanks Tomoyo. That really helped."

"Hey what are best friends for?" Tomoyo replied with a smile.

"Hey!" Chiharu called. "Are you guys coming or not?"

"Yeah! Carrying all these bags is a major pain!" Kero complained. Sakura and Tomoyo just laughed as they caught up with Chiharu and Kero.

"We're coming," Sakura said cheerfully.

'That's more like it,' Tomoyo thought as she went to catch up with Sakura. But what she didn't notice was a pair of golden eyes watching them.

OOOOO

"So my old friend, what can I do for you?" Yamazaki asked as he sipped his tea.

"I need information Yamazaki," Li replied. Yamazaki just chuckled.

"Just like old times huh? Now what do you want to know?"

"How long have you been here? And just how have these murders been going on anyway?"

"I left the city three months after you did. My parents had arranged a marriage for me, but I just wasn't ready yet. So I went into the mountains for a while, but when I found out they were killed, I decided to accept the marriage to honor them. My fiancé Chiharu and I left the city for good and we've been living here for about oh…six or seven months," Yamazaki answered.

"You still haven't answered my second question," Li said dryly.

"Patience. Anyway, those murders started about two months ago. They weren't that server at first, you know just a slash or two. But as time went on, the more extreme it had become. Thick slashes of a weapon no one from around here can get, and the victims' bones were always crushed. And the worst part is every time we send them to be studied, the carriage always gets attacked, and we just get more bodies. The whole town is living in fear, and I can't do anything about it."

"Yamazaki…I hate to say it, but there's no other explanation," Li started.

"What are you talking about?"

"I think he might still be alive." Yamazaki nearly dropped his cup.

"That…can't be true. It just can't be true. You killed him remember?"

"Yeah I know, looks like I wasn't thorough enough," Li replied as he looked out the window. "I know you probably don't believe me, but I saw him a couple days ago. He stole one of the jewels from me, and escaped by air."

"That could have been anyone. Why are you so sure that he's alive?" Yamazaki asked extremely concerned.

"I know that it could have been anyone, but, there's just no mistaking those eyes. How cold and piercing they were. There's no one I know who could mimic that."

"So you're sure that was him?"

"Yeah, no doubt about it," Li said without hesitation.

"But how? You killed him remember?" Li nodded, he did remember.

_Flashback_

It was a gray day, filled with rain. The water fell lightly on a small outdoor teahouse with a brown haired young man sitting at a table. At his feet was a long spear with the sharp blade covered by a brown cloth. A waitress came out with a tray with a cup of tea that was being soaked by the rain.

"Here you go sir," she said as she placed the cup on the table.

"Thank you," the young man replied simply.

"Uh…sir….why don't you come inside."

"No, I am waiting for someone." The waitress just nodded, and went back inside. As he waited, the rain only fell faster and harder, the small drizzle suddenly became a hard rain. The hot tea on table became ice cold as the drops fell into the cup. The young man just chuckled when he felt a presence behind him.

"So you're here after all," a cold voice said.

"About time you showed, Syaoran," the young man rose and grabbed his spear.

"It's time you paid for your crimes," Syaoran said as he drew his sword. The young man smirked, and uncovered the cloth that was covering his blade. The two stared long and hard at each other as the hard rain fell on them. As soon as lighting flashed across the sky, Syaoran shot towards the spear fighter. The golden-eyed fighter quickly jumped to the side dodging Syaoran opening thrust, and gave him a strong blow to his stomach. Syaoran growled, but suddenly elbowed him across his face. The two jumped back for a quick second before they both leaped into the air.

CLANG!

Steel met with wood as the two clashed in the air. Syaoran pushed the spear fighter back, and attacked with a fast thrust. The golden-eyed warrior parried the attack, and gave Syaoran a strong stab to his shoulder. The two flipped back, and landed gracefully. As soon as their feet hit the cold hard floor, they shot towards each other again. Syaoran swiftly dodged multiple spear thrusts, and attacked with a powerful downward strike. The spear fighter quickly jumped back, but Syaoran charged towards him.

"Dodge this," the golden-eyed warrior muttered, and suddenly hurled his spear at the charging Syaoran. In the blink of an eye, Syaoran dove to the left avoiding the attack. But as soon he regained his balance a fist suddenly struck him across his face. On instinct, Syaoran grabbed the arm, and threw the warrior over his shoulder.

"You're going to do better than that, Tatsuki," Syaoran said as he went into a fighting stance.

"Don't worry, I will Syaoran."

_End of Flashback_

"You do remember, don't you?" Yamazaki asked. Li just scoffed.

"Of course I do, and I know it sounds nuts, but he's alive. You just have to trust me."

"I do trust you, but it just sounds so unreasonable. How can someone who died two years ago spring up back to life again?"

"I don't know, but if he's truly alive, you know damn well who he's coming after."

"You, me, and those other two," Yamazaki said as he drank more of his tea. "How are they anyway?"

"I dunno," Li replied simply. "I haven't seen them since the incident in Yakouzi. And to be honest I don't care if I ever see them again."

"Come on now, you've known them since you were 5."

"That's too long in my opinion," Li said coldly and looked out the window. "They were nothing but a big pain in the ass. Just two major thorns in my side." Yamazaki just laughed.

"Don't talk like that. You three were like siblings."

"Shut up Yamazaki."

"So how is Yakouzi?" Yamazaki asked suddenly getting serious.

"Nothing but ruins now. A once beautiful city is nothing but debris, and it only took a couple of seconds," Li replied.

"I see. But how?" Yamazaki wondered. Li shrugged.

"Not quite sure." The door to the study room suddenly flew open, reveling one of the officers Yamazaki worked with.

"Yamazaki sir, we have a problem!" he exclaimed. "The carriage we sent to our analysis camp was attacked! The officer was murdered, and the body was completely annihilated!"

"Damn it!" Yamazaki muttered, and jumped to his feet. "Coming Li? It's your chance to see if your hunch is truly correct."

"Fine," Li answered, and grabbed his sword.

OOOOO

Kero groaned as he struggled to keep all the girls' bags in his floating shield, but they just kept on adding more and more. There was no telling how much more the little beast could take.

"What else do we need Chiharu?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm….I know I could use some new pants or skirts," Tomoyo said.

"Then let's go. And after that we can get some necklaces," Chiharu said. Kero just groaned.

"Aw man, how long are you guys going to shop?" he yelled. "I can't take much more of this!"

"Calm down Kero-chan. As soon as we're done we'll give you a big bag of cookies to eat," Sakura smiled.

"Well….it had better be chocolate chip!" Kero grumbled.

"Don't worry it will be," Sakura reassured him.

"Where did you guys get him anyway?" Chiharu wondered.

"To be honest he used to Sakura's stuffed animal. But he just came alive one day," Tomoyo answered with a giggle. Kero growled, but suddenly a stern look crossed his face.

"Sakura, do you feel that?" Kero asked her quietly. Sakura gave him a puzzled look.

"Feel what?" she wondered as she looked around. Her question was answered when a spear shot towards them out of nowhere. "Tomoyo, Chiharu get down!" The girls dove to the side as the spear passed over them, and hit the wall of a store, creating a large hole.

"Who's there?" Kero shouted.

"Heh, I didn't expect three young girls to dodge my spear, but I guess there's a first time for everything," a voice said from the alleyways.

"Where are you, come out!" Sakura yelled.

"As you wish, my dear." Suddenly, a young man with short brown hair, and golden eyes stepped out of one of the alleyways. He wore a long brown cloak, and on his wrist was the Terra Bracelet. Sakura looked around, and wondered why no one was doing anything. They were just walking around like nothing was happening.

"Who are you?" Kero asked.

"My name is Tatsuki Minhoji. And don't expect anyone to come to your rescue. I placed a barrier over the area. These people can't see us at all. Only someone with magical powers will be able to see us now."

"What do you want?" Sakura asked as she looked around for a stick.

"It's simple my dear," Tatsuki said as he held out his hand. "I want you." The spear that was imbedded in the wall suddenly flew back in his hands, and the golden-eyed warrior went into a fighting stance.

"Tomoyo, take Chiharu, and get out of here. Kero go find Li," Sakura whispered to her friends. Tomoyo and Kero nodded when they fully understood their assignments, and ran or flew off.

"Now I have you all to myself. Ready yourself girl because I won't hold back!" Tatsuki shouted, and shot towards Sakura.

"Neither will I!"

AN: Well this isn't good. What does Tatsuki want with Sakura? Will Kero find Li in time for him to save her? How is Tatsuki still alive anyway? And what unfinished business does he have with Li? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Oh and sorry if this chapter wasn't as action packed as the last couple of chapters. But I didn't want them to fight a demon in every single chapter, because in my opinion if I did that, then it would some become a routine kind of thing. The main part of this chapter was when Li and Yamazaki talked, and if it was confusing at the last couple of parts it okay, that's they way I meant for it to turn out. Anyway, be sure to R&R. See ya!

Footnote: A Yari is a staff with a long thin blade. It's used for fighting against soldiers on horses that's why the blade is so long.


	24. Fighting Spirits

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 24

Sakura braced herself as soon as she saw Tatsuki shoot towards her. She didn't know what this Tatsuki guy wanted with her, but all she knew was, she wasn't going to go easily. Tatsuki attacked with a swift straight thrust, but Sakura managed to just barely dodge. The golden-eyed warrior suddenly pivoted on his front foot, and followed up with a powerful horizontal slash. Sakura jumped back, and quickly scanned the ground for a stick, but so far she didn't find any.

"You know you can't run forever," the warrior said as he went into another stance. "Eventually I will get you."

"What do you want with me anyway?" Sakura asked hoping that asking questions would buy Kero enough time to find Li.

"Two things, your power, and I need you to get to Syaoran," Tatsuki replied with a smirk. Sakura tilted her head in confusion.

"Syaoran? Who's Syaoran?" Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

"You mean you've been traveling with him all this time, and you don't even what his name is?"

"What are you talking about? I haven't been traveling with anyone named Syaoran," Sakura replied. Tatsuki slapped his forehead; he couldn't believe this girl's naivety. How could she not know the name of the one she has been traveling with all this time?

"Forget it!" he growled, and shot forward again. Sakura managed to dodge a swift thrust attack, and quickly scanned the ground again for stick, but she was unlucky this time. "You and I both know you can't avoid my attacks forever. Now make things easier on yourself and come with me."

"Not on your life you creep," Sakura replied. "And what did you mean you wanted my power?" Tatsuki just smirked.

"So not even you know the full extent of your abilities. No matter, I'll know all the secrets of your power. As soon as I make them my own that is," the killer chuckled.

"What do you mean by that? How can you make my power yours?" Sakura asked getting slightly scared. Tatsuki chuckled again.

"You mean you don't know? When a human with special abilities such as a magician dies, their magical energies are released. And with the proper power, and skill, someone can absorb that energy and add it to their own," the spear fighter explained as he advanced towards the young girl.

"But how can you control it? I mean the person whose power you stealing knows their attacks inside and out. So someone can't master it as soon as they get it can they?" Sakura wondered. Tatsuki just laughed as he walked even closer to the young girl.

"You don't know much do you? Don't you know that the corpse of any human can tell you anything and everything about them? You can figure how old they were, their height, their weight, and even what kind of attacks they use," the spear fighter chuckled. "Course you'd have to use some…heavy operation for that part."

"You…. you mean you're going to do that to…me?" Sakura asked fearfully as she stepped back.

"But of course," Tatsuki replied as he licked his lips. "How do you expect me to fully assimilate your powers into my body? Now do the smart thing, and surrender. If you do I won't operate on you while your still alive."

"N-N-Never! I'd never go anywhere with you!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to hide her deep fear. Tatsuki just smirked.

"Have it your way then." In an instant, Tatsuki was behind Sakura, and attacked with a powerful downward blow. Sakura quickly dove forward, missing the attack, but as soon as she got to her feet, the golden-eyed warrior was right in front of her. He suddenly grabbed her by the neck, and raised her off the ground.

"Let…go," Sakura said softly as he tried to struggle out of his grip.

"I wouldn't struggle too much my dear. My grip can crush bone, so I think I would be able to crush your little neck in no time at all," Tatsuki chuckled. "Now, you're coming with me weather you like it or not!" The spear fighter was suddenly blown into the wall of a shop by a powerful wind. When he looked up he saw Sakura on her knees with her palm outstretched.

"I'm…not going anywhere with you," she panted. When she looked down she saw a small twig lying in front of her. 'It's not much but it'll have to do.' The young girl instantly picked it up, and held it in front of her. Tatsuki smirked.

"So you've decided to fight a battle you know you can't win," he said as he got up. "Fine I could use a little warm-up before I fight Syaoran. I know he'll come if I take you." In a flash Sakura transformed the twig into her weapon and lunged towards the warrior.

"I don't know anyone named Syaoran!" she exclaimed as she brought down her weapon. Tatsuki swiftly jumped back, and suddenly appeared behind Sakura.

"Are you sure?" he whispered. Sakura froze as soon as she realized he was right behind her.

'How did he move so fast?' she wondered. The young girl wasted little time, and in an instant she attacked with a back swing, but Tatsuki easily avoided it by jumping back.

"You'll have to do better than that," he smirked, and lunged towards Sakura with a fast thrust. The young girl quickly parried, but Tatsuki suddenly countered with a jab to her stomach. Sakura gasped in pain, and clutched her stomach tightly as she stepped back.

'Is his hand made out of iron?' she thought as she fell to her knees. The spear fighter chuckled as he made his way towards her.

"Oh did I forget to mention that my fist is ten times more powerful than a normal human fist? I didn't even put half my strength into that punch, and already you're on your knees. Why Syaoran chose to let you travel with him is beyond me, but that is not my concern." Tatsuki grabbed Sakura by her hair, and made her look at him. "You're mine now."

'Kero, what's taking so long?'

OOOOO

Kero groaned as he flew through the streets of the town. He never realized that finding Li could be this hard.

"Damn it, where is that kid!" he exclaimed as he flew higher. "Kid if you don't show yourself in ten seconds, the minute I find you I'm going to bite your damn fingers off!" The little beast just groaned when he was only getting strange looks and glares from the people below.

'Man this is getting me nowhere! That kid could be anywhere by now!' Kero thought as he swooped down into a crowd. 'It's not like he's giving off any of his energy, so I can't sense him. No, wait, maybe I can. That necklace he wears, it gives off some sort of weird aura. I can use that to find him! Sakura, just try to hold on kid.' The yellow beast then flew into the air, sped towards where he was sensing the aura.

OOOOO

"Tomoyo, do you really think Sakura can beat that guy?" Chiharu asked as she walked with the raven-haired girl.

"I'm not sure Chiharu. I mean I've seen Sakura take down demons, but this guy is in a whole other league. I mean, I know that I don't know much about this kind of stuff, but I just he's somehow different than all the other demons we've faced before," Tomoyo replied.

"Do you think that Sakura-chan will…."

"No she won't!" Tomoyo exclaimed, cutting Chiharu off. "I'm sure Li will get to her in time."

"Who's this Li guy you and Sakura are traveling with anyway? Is he your friend or say that. Where are we going anyway?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yamazaki's dojo, I know we'll be safe there," the other girl answered.

"Lead the way," Tomoyo said. 'Sakura-chan, hold on.'

OOOOO

Meanwhile outside of town, Li, Yamazaki, and some other officers were looking over the dead bodies within the carriage. The driver's body was covered in thick and long slash marks, and the bones in his arm and legs were completely crushed. The carriage the body was in was filled with holes. The horses were not spared either. Their blood stained the dirt, and the trunk of a tree. When Yamazaki found the body of the man, his stomach was sliced open, and his head was missing.

"This is sick," Yamazaki said as he looked over the scene.

"Didn't we have three other officers armed with rifles and pistols?" one of the officers asked as he looked around for them. "Perhaps one of survived."

"Forget it," Li said simply. "Their bodies have been sliced open, and their bones have been crushed as well." Another one of the officers picked up a rifle that had been cut in half.

"Who could have done this?" he asked in awe when he saw that it was one slice that cut it in half.

"He hides in the shadows, and waits for his target like a predator. Once he sees his target he attacks and nothing can stop him," Li replied suddenly as he seemed to stare into space as he talked. "He slices through anything and everything that gets in his way, and uses a style very similar to Viking berserkers. He spares no one that sees him, and his techniques are close to flawless. He is one of the ultimate assassins." The officers were in awe at Li's vast knowledge of the killer.

"You know him?" one of them asked.

"I've just heard stories, from old soldiers every now and then," Li replied. "But anyway I have a feeling that this guy won't leave unless he gets what he wants."

"You men get a cleaning squad out here, and try to clean up this mess," Yamazaki ordered.

"Yes sir!" the officers exclaimed and started to signal for the squad to come, while Yamazaki approached Li who was deep in thought.

"Something still bugs me though," the chestnut haired boy mumbled to his old friend. "What would Tatsuki want so much that he would look for it a small town like yours? It doesn't make any sense."

"That guy never made any sense. Well anyway, where do you think he'll strike next?"

"Hard to say really. He seems to pick his victims at random, so there really is no telling where he'll show up next. And I'm still not sure how the hell he came back in the first place," he let out an annoyed grunt. "This whole thing is a major pain in the ass."

"Maybe we should go back to my place for some tea. There we can try to figure things out," Yamazaki suggested.

"Whatever," Li answered gruffly. But before either Yamazaki or Li could move a loud voice came from the sky.

"Hey brat!" it yelled. Li just groaned as soon as he saw Kero swoop down towards him.

"What do you want you stupid plush toy?" he growled.

"Now who's this little guy?" Yamazaki wondered as he looked over him.

"Don't ask. Now what the hell you want!" Li asked in a deep annoyed tone.

"Sakura is in major trouble! She told to come get you!" Kero exclaimed, but Li just scoffed.

"So, why the hell should I care?" he said coldly.

"Who's Sakura?"

"Some stupid girl that's been following me around for the past couple of months with her dumb friend, and this idiot," Li replied as he leaped into a tree. "Anyway, whatever trouble that girl is in is not my problem."

"Are you really going to abandon one of your traveling companions like that?" Yamazaki asked, surprised at Li's coldness.

"Why the hell not? Less trouble for me, and I won't have hear her damn complaining." Kero was getting fed up with the young man, and suddenly bit his finger. "You bastard! Do you want to die?"

"Get off your ass and go help her! She's in way over her head this time! She's fighting some crazy golden-eyed spear fighter, named Tatsuki!" Li suddenly grabbed the little beast, and held him up to his eye level.

"Where is he?" Li growled, Kero just scoffed.

"Oh so now you're interested. Maybe I shouldn't tell you at all. You should have listened when I first told you." This only made Li squeeze the little beast until his eyes started to bulge out.

"You have two choices, you either tell me where that bastard is or I squeeze you to death, and not go at all. Then we'll see what happens to that stupid girl. Your choice."

"All right!" Kero squeaked. "All right I'll tell you!" Li smirked.

"Wise choice."

OOOOO

Sakura's heart started to beat faster and faster as she saw Tatsuki's spear get closer to her chest. The killer just smirked.

"Don't worry it won't hurt, much. Now hold still."

"I thought you were going to keep me alive to lure out this Syaoran guy?"

"Well I changed my mind. What better way to make Syaoran suffer than for him to come save his woman, only to find that she's already dead. It's perfect!" he laughed. "Not only that, but once I absorb your power I'll ten times more powerful than him!" Sakura quickly brought up her palm gave him a strong blast of wind that blew him back, but as soon as she took a knee to take a breath, he was right in front of her again.

'How's he so fast!' Sakura thought in awe as she stared at his golden eyes.

"Not a wise choice." The young girl grabbed her weapon, and quickly jumped to her feet. Tatsuki chuckled when he saw her rush towards him. "So you still decide to fight."

"Take this!" Sakura shouted, and attacked with a fast downward blow. But in the blink of an eye Tatsuki was gone. "Where he'd go!"

"Don't look so surprised," his voice said suddenly. Sakura turned around and saw that he was already far behind her. "I only stepped to the side." The emerald eyed girl shot forward again, and attacked with wild swings, but Tatsuki merely dodged them like they were nothing.

'It's no good. He just keeps dodging everything,' Sakura thought as she attacked again, but Tatsuki parried with his spear, and gave her a quick jab to her stomach with the spear butt.

"Care to try again?" he asked. Sakura swung her weapon, unleashing a strong windblast, but Tatsuki easily dodged it by leaping into the air.

'Now I have him. It's a lot harder to dodge in the air than it is on the ground,' Sakura thought and fired two more windblasts. Tatsuki just smirked.

'Trying to get me while I'm in the air. Nice try, but it won't girl,' he thought, and pointed his spear at Sakura. 'Now to show you one of the many techniques that I have mastered.'

'What's he doing?' Sakura wondered as she watched him.

"Swift Lighting Strike!" The spear started to glow like lighting, and Tatsuki suddenly swung, releasing a powerful wave of lighting. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the wave completely cancel out her wind attacks, and shot straight towards her. The young girl quickly jumped to side, just narrowly missing the wave. Sakura suddenly heard a loud explosion behind her. When she turned around she saw that the wave had destroyed four or five shops that were on the same street at once.

"What power," she mumbled. "Why would he want mine when he's already this powerful?" The killer had a smirk on his face as he landed on the ground.

"So do you still want to fight me?" he asked. Sakura grunted, and drew out the Watery card.

"Watery I summon you! Restrain my opponent!" she yelled as she held out the card. Water suddenly burst from the card, and the sprit of water shot towards the golden-eyed killer.

"What's this? Some sort of summoning spell?" he asked as he watched Watery circle around him. Sakura smirked.

"You could say that. Watery now!" The water sprit nodded, and instantly started to wrap itself around Tatsuki.

"Is that all you got?" the killer said, and suddenly broke of Watery's binds. Sakura gasped.

'Oh no! I forgot. Without any water as a source Watery's powers are weak. Now what do I do? It's not like I can find a river or lake in this area. And I don't think the wood sprit would do any good either. I'm all out of ideas!'

"I see, judging by your still figure, I'm guessing it's my turn. Let me show you another one of my many techniques. I got this one from an old sand wizard. You'll love it," he said with a smirk.

'Now what is he up to?' Sakura wondered as she readied herself defensively. Tatsuki raised his spear over his head, and started to spin it. At first nothing happened, but all of a sudden the sand from the ground started to shot towards the spear.

"Get ready girl for one of the fiercest attacks you've seen!" he laughed as he spun his spear faster.

'I don't know what he's planning, but I have to stop him!' Sakura thought, and rushed towards him. But just as she was about to attack, a wall of sand formed around him, stopping Sakura. Tatsuki suddenly laughed, and lowered the wall.

"Now feel this! Sand Tsunami Snake!" He slammed his spear on the ground and unleashed an enormous sand wave that took the form of a large snake. The attack was large enough to cover the entire area, there was no escape for Sakura. The attack hit, and covered the whole area of the town in sand. When the sand started to part, Tatsuki, who had escaped by air, landed and started to look for Sakura.

"There's no way a girl like her could have survived," he chuckled. A wide dark smile came to his lips when he saw Sakura's body laying on the ground with her weapon back in the form of a twig. He went up to her, and stood over her triumphantly. But his grin was lost when he heard her take a breath. "She's alive but how!"

"Ever heard of a shield dumb-ass," a voice said from behind him. Tatsuki just smiled darkly.

"So it's you. I knew you would come eventually, Syaoran."

"I don't know how the hell you came back or why, but quite frankly I don't care. All that means to me is that I get to kill you twice," Li said. Tatsuki turned to face Li, and readied his spear.

"Are you sure, maybe this time you're the one who will die." Li just scoffed.

"I doubt it you couldn't beat me two years ago, what makes this time any different?"

"I am stronger, much stronger than I was before." There was a pause as the two stared each other down with a light wind blowing.

"Why have you been killing the people here? They don't have anything you would want." Tatsuki just laughed.

"Practice. After two years of hibernation my skills have diminished. I needed something to get my skills back."

"Hibernation? What the hell does that mean? You mean you were never really dead to begin with?"

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out. Now if you excuse me, I have some business with that green eyed girl."

"What the hell would you want with that stupid girl? Her powers aren't even close to mine." Tatsuki laughed again.

"You fool do you not sense the power that is deep down within her? No I guess only I can sense that. My senses were always better than yours."

"Syaoran!" Yamazaki called as he rushed to the scene.

"Well if isn't Yamazaki, the former field chief. Where are the other two? If I remember correctly you four were always together."

"Forget about them, you should only be worried about me," Li said. Tatsuki ignored Li, and turned to Yamazaki.

"So Yamazaki how did you get through my barrier? Only people with magical abilities can pass through."

"You idiot," Li replied suddenly with a smirk. "Your last attack weakened your little barrier so much just about anyone can pass through now."

"Enough of this! Tatsuki I am placing you under arrest for serial murder!" The killer just laughed hysterically.

"I know about your glory here Yamazaki, but do you really think you can arrest me just like your other opponents? I think not!" Yamazaki went into a stance with his yari.

"Well if it's a fight you want it's a fight you get!" And with that Yamazaki rushed into battle.

"Yamazaki you idiot! He's too strong for you!" Li warned.

"I can take him," the commanding officer replied, and attacked with a swift thrust. Tatsuki chuckled, and dodged his attack with ease. Yamazaki quickly pivoted on his front leg, and attacked with a fast horizontal strike. Tatsuki just dodged it again.

"You fool, you can't defeat me. You don't even have a chance."

"We'll see about that!" Yamazaki shouted, and started to attack with fast, but wild swings, but Tatsuki kept dodging them like they were nothing. The commanding officer jumped back, only to charge in again with a rapid thrust attack. To a normal human his thrust would have been close to impossible to dodge, but Tatsuki evaded them as though they were the slowest of attacks. Yamazaki jumped to catch his breath while Tatsuki was standing there like nothing had happened.

"I'll tell you what," he said with a smirk. "If I can't you in three moves then I'll come quietly. How does that sound?"

"So fine to me," Yamazaki agreed.

"You moron! He's only toying with you! You can't beat him Yamazaki! You're too weak!"

"Quiet Syaoran. I'll handle you later," Tatsuki hissed. Yamazaki readied his yari and shot forward. Tatsuki smirked and held up his spear.

"Take this!" Yamazaki attacked with two fast swings, but Tatsuki dodged them again. "You're going have to stop running some time!"

"How about now?" Tatsuki whispered as Yamazaki shot forward again. The spear fighter held up his weapon as the commanding officer attacked again.

"You won't win!"

"One," he whispered, and blocked Yamazaki's overhead attack. "Two." He then blocked his horizontal follow up attack, and jumped back.

"That's two! And if I'm not defeated you're going to jail!" Yamazaki exclaimed and rushed towards him.

"You moron stop!" Li shouted. "It's just a trap!" But Yamazaki went on with his attack anyway, and thrust forward. Tatsuki stepped to the side, and in a flash ran past Yamazaki. Everything was still for moment, neither one of the fighters moved as the wind blew. But suddenly Yamazaki's yari snapped in half, and the commanding officer fell to the ground with a long and thin slash mark in his chest that went down to his stomach. His blood made a pool around his body and it was only getting larger as the blood continued to flow. Tatsuki just smirked.

"Three. And now Yamazaki I'll be taking my prize," the spear fighter said as he walked over to Yamazaki's fallen figure.

"What are you doing?" Li growled. "You already won, what more do you want?" Tatsuki chuckled, and held his hand over him. Suddenly a white substance flew out of Yamazaki's body and into Tatsuki's hand. "What is that?"

"This my old friend is Yamazaki's body ki. I can drain it out of just anyone. I know all of his techniques now, everything he can do I can do."

"If you can do that, why not do it to that stupid girl? Why would you need to kill her if you can just drain it out of her?" Tatsuki just chuckled.

"Obviously you don't know much about this art. Well the answer is simple. I can only drain body energy, in other words physical energy. I can only drain magical energy when the person is dead. I didn't drain that girl because quite frankly she little physical energy, but she has extremely powerful magical energy. It's that simple."

"So you killed those people not only for the practice but for their physical energy as well?"

"Very good Syaoran. You're as sharp as ever. And once I'm finished with you, I will drain both your physical, and magical energy, along with the girl's magical energy! That way I will be a hundred times stronger than I was two years ago!" Li glared at Tatsuki as he went into a fit of laughter. "You can't stop me Syaoran!"

"Hey, stuffed animal," Li muttered to Kero, who has been in his pocket this whole time.

"It's about time!" Kero exclaimed as he flew out. "What do you want kid?"

"Take those two somewhere else."

"Like where?"

"Yamazaki has his own dojo. You can't miss it, it's one of the biggest buildings in the town. Now get going!" Kero nodded, and carried Sakura and Yamazaki away in his shield.

"Where does that toy think he's going with my other prize?" Tatsuki growled as he watched Kero.

"Shut up. Don't worry about that stuffed animal. Your fight is with me. Now lets get this over with!" Li exclaimed as he reached into his cloak for his sword. Tatsuki just smirked as he held up his spear.

"Fine, I was going to save you for last, but killing you and then taking that girl's magical energy sounds like a much better plan," the killer said as he went into a stance. Meanwhile on top of one of the rooftops Viga was sitting watching them.

"So the battle that started two years ago will be concluded today will it? How entertaining. Can you survive against him again Syaoran? Because after all the last time you faced off against him, you nearly died."

A soft wind blew through them as they faced each other. Their hands brushing against their weapons, and their feet twitching slightly, waiting for the right moment to move. There was deep intensity in both fighter's eyes as they stared each other down. Everything was silent for while, then suddenly from outside of the barrier a door slammed. As if on cue Li and Tatsuki shot towards each other, and both raised their weapons.

CLANG!

AN: Yep a cliffhanger, and I know I'm evil. But I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, because it was a pain writing those fights. I didn't want to make it so long that it took up the whole chapter, but at the same time I didn't want to make it so short that I had to fill up the rest with meaningless filler. So that's mostly why it took me so long to get this chapter. Oh, and also the fact that I had a research paper to do for English class, and mountains of homework too. Well anyway, will Li be able to defeat Tatsuki? What happened between them two years ago? What is Viga's connection to all of this? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!


	25. Amber vs Gold

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 25

A loud CLANG echoed through the city as Li and Tatsuki locked their weapons together. Gold met with amber as their eyes locked together as well. They jumped back only to rush towards each other again. Li struggled as he tried to push Tatsuki back. It was like trying to push down a tree, but that didn't stop the chestnut haired boy. By summoning a great deal of his inner strength he pushed Tatsuki back, and attacked with a strong overhead blow.

"Not bad," the spear fighter muttered as their weapons met once again.

"I'm just getting started," Li replied, and added more force behind his attack. Tatsuki just smirked.

"So am I." The golden-eyed fighter suddenly pushed Li back with ease, and lunged forward with a swift thrust. Li quickly back flipped away, and as soon as his feet hit the dirt he shot towards Tatsuki.

"Take this! Element, Lighting!" Tatsuki quickly held up his spear, and the spear easily absorbed the lighting attack.

"You're going to have to do better than that. My spear can act as a lighting rod. Remember?"

"Yeah, now I do," Li muttered. The two fighters eyes met once again before they dashed towards each other once again. Li attacked with a fierce horizontal slash as they pasted each other, but it suddenly went through a transparent of Tatsuki. "Nice trick but you're going to need a better one!" The chestnut haired boy swiftly swung his sword behind him, but it once again went through a transparent image.

"Up here Syaoran!" Tatsuki shouted from the air. "Behold another one of my many attacks. Diving Dragon Thrust!" The spear fighter was suddenly surrounded by a light purple aura as he dove towards Li like a rocket.

"Element wind!" the young man quickly put up a shield around himself as the attack came closer. Sparks flew, and the ground shook when the two techniques collided.

"You can't defeat this attack, Syaoran," Tatsuki growled as he added more force behind his assault. Li dug his back foot into the ground, and started to force the energy of his shield outward.

"I…beg…to differ," Li growled back. "Wind Reflection!" With a fast wave of his sword, Li used the wind of shield to blow Tatsuki back. The spear warrior however, simply back flipped and shot towards Li again. As soon as he saw amber eyed boy thrust his sword forward, he used his spear to pole vault above the young man.

"Try to blow back this. Drilling Needle!" As soon Tatsuki was over Li, he pointed his spear downwards and started to spin fast. In a matter of seconds a red spiral aura covered Tatsuki as he came down. Li quickly held his sword over his head to block the aerial attack. His hands shook as the vibration traveled down his sword, it took all of his will power not to let go of his weapon. But his persistence paid off once the spinning started to slow down.

"Gotcha," Li muttered. Taking his chance, Li pushed Tatsuki through the air, and struck with a swift downward assault. Another loud clang echoed through the town streets as their weapons met once again. Tatsuki suddenly hit Li's sword to side, and struck him across his face with the butt of his spear. The chestnut haired fighter pivoted on his foot, and countered with a well-placed punch to his throat. The two quickly jumped back for a fast rest.

"Well your skills haven't diminished in the two years I was away," Tatsuki said as he felt his throat.

"Yeah well you aren't as weak as were when I first fought you," Li replied and spat out a tooth. The two shot quick glares at each other before starting again. At first they were only jogging, but after a few seconds their feet started to move so swiftly that they were nothing but blurs. The dirt they kicked up slammed together and created one large cloud of dirt when they collided. The only thing a normal person could see would be their shadows, and the thunderous shockwaves was all normal people would be able to hear as their weapons clashed together. Their auras flared, and battled just as fiercely as the two fighters. Tatsuki's golden aura overpowered Li's green for a while, but the green started to grow spin together with the gold. The two auras spun together like a hurricane until they finally collided together near the top of the dust cloud, and separated.

"Not bad," Tatsuki said as the dust cloud started to clear.

"I'm just getting started," Li replied and went into another fighting stance. Tatsuki smirked, and said,

"So am I." Li rushed towards the spear fighter, and attacked with a strong downward strike. Tatsuki easily evaded it, and gave Li a swift uppercut. The young man back flipped while he was airborne, and knocked Tatsuki on his back with a well placed double kick to his chest.

"Element, fire!" Li shouted as soon as he jumped to his feet. The fire blast engulfed Tatsuki in its flames, but when the fire cleared, the spear fighter was gone.

"Don't look behind you," he heard a voice whisper. Without second thought Li ducked, and felt the wind of Tatsuki's spear pass over him. The amber-eyed fighter gripped his sword, and ran it through his stomach. Tatsuki yelled out in pain as the sword went all the way through his body.

"Gotcha," Li said with a smirk as he removed his sword.

"Clearly," Tatsuki whispered as he stepped back with his hand over his wound. The blood started to run through his fingers, and drip to the ground like a small fountain.

"It's over," Li said, but the spear fighter just laughed.

"It's far from over Syaoran!" This caught Li's full attention.

"What the hell are you talking about? That wound would kill anyone!"

"You fool," Tatsuki chuckled, and removed his hand from the wound. Li's eyes widened when he saw that the wound was completely healed.

"No way!" he whispered. "Is this how you survived? You can heal yourself?" Tatsuki just chuckled again.

"Not necessarily," Tatsuki replied as he went into another fighting stance.

'What's this strange aura I'm sensing? It's not coming from him, and there's no one else around. Who could be giving off such an aura?' Li thought as he looked around the area.

"Keep your eye on your opponent!" Tatsuki shouted suddenly, and thrust his spear forward. Li quickly dodged to the side, and countered with a swift sidekick to his head.

"If you want to beat me, you'll have to use better tricks than that. You should have known by now my guard is always up," Li said as he walked up to Tatsuki. The spear fighter just started to chuckle as he looked at the young man's eyes.

"I must say I'm surprised that you are able to fight with a level head. After all, I am partly responsible for that incident two years ago. Remember?" Li growled deeply, and gripped his sword hilt tighter.

"How could I forget? You forever marked of that," he snarled.

"It just a little reminder. To make sure in the two years you would spend wandering the world, you wouldn't forget where you come from. Or what caused it." Li gritted his teeth together as he saw flashes of crimson blood spray through the air, the cries of countless people, and a great green flash.

"Shut up," he whispered. For a split second his iris (colored part of you eye) flashed red. Tatsuki smirked.

'He's almost there. He just needs a couple more pushes.' Viga, who was watching from afar, just chuckled as he listened.

"So Tatsuki you wish to fight that side of our little Syaoran. I hope you know what you are getting yourself into," Viga muttered as he watched more.

"I hope you know that those little reminders are also to remember Viga as well. He had his part to play to in that incident." The flashing in Li's eyes only started to become more rapid, and his necklace started to glow just as rapidly.

"I'll never forgive any of you, for what you did," he growled dangerously as he made an extremely tight fist.

"And what about Shu Ling?" Li's eyes widened as soon as he heard that name.

"Ling?" he whispered.

"She's just as responsible for what happened. Her hands are just as dirty as Viga's and mine. Will you be able to forgive her for what she did? Even though I wouldn't blame you for not forgiving her. She was nothing but a deceitful, foolish piece of trash!" Li's fist became so tight that his nails started to dig into his skin.

"You….dare….insult….Ling?" he growled viciously. His irises became crimson red, and a dark green aura started to slowly surround him.

"There it is," Tatsuki said under his breath.

"Tat…Su…Ki," Li growled slowly. He snapped up his head, revealing his now red eyes. "The gloves are off!"

"Well then by all means show me how you fight without your gloves," the golden-eyed warrior replied and went into a fighting stance.

"I intend to."

OOOOO

Kero turned his head around suddenly when a chill passed through his body.

"What is that?" he wondered out loud.

"…Kero…." Sakura groaned as she slowly woke up.

"Sakura, good you're awake."

"The only reason I'm up is because that cold feeling I get it in stomach is back, and that usually means trouble."

"Yeah, I'm sensing it too. It some type of intense aura. I'm not sure how else to describe it, it's just so….wild."

"I know, the feeling in my stomach is ice cold, it's never been this cold before. What do you think is happening?"

"Not sure kid. Most likely that Tatsuki guy must have used some powerful attack against Li."

"Then we have to go and help him! I'm not even sure Li can take this guy alone!" Kero nodded.

"I know, but we have to take his friend to his dojo to get him some help. That wound will kill him if we don't worry."

"Well then step on it Kero!"

"Gotcha!" the beast agreed, and flew faster.

OOOOO

"So Syaoran you have unleashed it after all this time," Viga said with a chuckle.

"Shouldn't you be back at the castle?" Mudo asked as he suddenly teleported behind Viga.

"Ah it'll be fine. Besides I just had to watch this fight, it's been so entertaining," Viga replied.

"Who's fighting?"

"Li and Tatsuki. You fought him remember?"

"Yes for a kid his age he was quite the opponent. But I don't see him anywhere." Viga just chuckled.

"Try to sense for him." Mudo closed his eyes, but they suddenly snapped open when he sensed Li's aura.

"I've….never felt such wild and incredible aura! Is it really that Li kid's?" Viga nodded.

"It seems that Tatsuki caused Syaoran to unleash the beast within. Luckily for Tatsuki Syaoran has such a short temper. Bring up the incident from two years ago, and he completely loses it."

"So what exactly happened two years ago?" Viga just smirked as he watched the fight.

"That is a story for another day."

OOOOO

A loud shockwave ran through the area as two blurs collided. As soon as they passed each other, the blurs turned around, and collided with each other again. When they collided another time, the shockwave was so rough and powerful that it shattered the barrier that Tatsuki had put up, unleashing the fight upon the town and its people.

'Now I can finally be serious,' Tatsuki thought as he ran along side of the now red-eyed Li. The two dashed all the way to the center of the of the town in only a matter of minutes. The dust they had kicked up started to settle, and there was a brief pause as they stared each other down again.

"Syaoran, you can't defeat me. You barely defeated me two years ago, what makes you think you can beat me this time?" Li just smirked.

"I just have a feeling," he replied darkly, and suddenly rushed towards the spear fighter, who just smirked.

'I can feel that his bloodlust is rising at a rapid state. The longer he stays in this state the higher it becomes. Soon his bloodlust will be so strong that he will kill just about anyone and everyone around him,' Tatsuki thought as he dodged Li's swift downward strike. Li suddenly appeared behind Tatsuki, and attacked with a fast slash, but his sword only passed through another transparent copy.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" Li shouted, and suddenly hurled his sword to the side. He was rewarded with a loud yell of pain. Tatsuki fell to his knees with Li's sword imbedded in his stomach.

"Nice….aim," he said weakly. But Li didn't stop there he rushed towards the spear fighter, and knocked him on his back with a strong sidekick. Li then stood over Tatsuki, and in one motion pulled out his, and held it over his head for a final blow.

"Get ready to die for real this time."

"Not yet," Tatsuki muttered, and from behind Li, Tatsuki's spear started to levitate. The golden-eyed fighter then swung his hand, and instantly the spear shot towards Li like a bullet. In a matter of seconds the red-eyed young man had a long spear impaired in his shoulder.

"You cheap bastard," he growled, as he took a knee. Tatsuki smirked as he stood over him.

"Now that I have the upper hand, I'm going to play with you for a little while." However, Li just smirked, and pulled out the spear like it was nothing.

"I don't think so," he said and suddenly shot towards Tatsuki again. The spear fighter quickly kicked Li's sword out of his hands, and came in with a sudden jab to the young man's stomach. Li growled, but managed to counter with an equally strong uppercut. The two jumped back, for a quick break.

'He's strong, but nothing I can't handle. I think it's time I used more powerful techniques,' Tatsuki smirked, and the two fighters dashed towards each other again. A blur suddenly came in from the right, and made the spear fighter stumble two steps. When he looked up he saw Li with his leg extended in a round kick position. Tatsuki just smirked, and disappeared.

"You're going to have to do better than that," Li said, and suddenly elbowed the golden eyed fighter in the stomach from behind him. Once he was crouched over, Li spun around, and gave him a strong front kick to his chin, sending him to the ground. Tatsuki jumped to his feet, and threw a fast jab, but Li dodged with ease, and countered with an elbow strike across his face. The young man was nose to nose with the killer in a matter of seconds, and started to pound his face with rapid punches. After the ninth punch was landed, Tatsuki tried to block Li's attacks, but they were so fast, no even he could keep up with all of them. In only a few minutes, Tatsuki was face first on the ground with his face covered with bruise.

'He's only getting stronger,' the spear wielder thought as he struggled to his feet. 'I have to end this before…he gets too strong for me.' Li was on the move once again. Tatsuki tried to stop him with a strong jab, but the young man only leaped in the air, and gave him a sidekick to his ribs. His kick was so strong that it broke most of the ribs on that side of him. As Tatsuki slid across the dirt, the Terra Bracelet on his wrist started to glow.

Li dashed towards Tatsuki with speed that not even he could keep up with. In seconds Li was behind the spear fighter, and knocked him to the ground with a powerful kick to his head.

"Run from this! Dragon Quake!" Tatsuki slammed his hand on the ground, and created a small but put powerful earthquake around Li. The ground around him started to split apart, and fall to pieces. Only a small piece of earth remained when the attack was finished, and Li was trapped on it. "Now I have you trapped! Time to finish this! Dragon Quake!" Another powerful earthquake hit, and started to break away the small piece of earth that Li was standing on. Li however just smirked, and leaped into the air.

"You can't beat me that easily!" he shouted.

"Oh really?" Tatsuki shouted back as he grabbed his spear. "Dodge this! Dragon Assault!" Five golden dragons shot out of his spear, and blasted towards Li who had no look of worry on his face.

"Too easy," he whispered and started to dodge the dragons with ease. But Tatsuki suddenly appeared behind him with an arm that was now completely stone.

"It ends here," he whispered and slammed Li into the ground with a hard punch. The young man fell like a rock, and hit the ground with a loud THUD. "Now it's time to show you my most powerful technique. You'll never survive this Syaoran!" Tatsuki shouted as a blue aura started to surround him.

"Bring it on!" Li growled as he got to his feet. "I'll take anything you have!" The young man grabbed his sword, and dashed towards Tatsuki, who was now completely covered in blue aura.

"Dragon Rush!" In a split second the two fighters ran past each other, and everything was silent and still.

"I told you I'd take anything you had," Li whispered as he turned his head. Tatsuki however just smirked.

"Too bad you body couldn't take it." As soon as he said those words, blood exploded from Li's body, and the young fell face first to the ground. The blood ran across the ground like a river, and it was only growing in size. Tatsuki chuckled as he stood over Li.

'No one can survive the full blast of my Dragon Rush attack. Now to take his energy,' he thought and held his hand over the fallen fighter. But just as he was about to take Li's energy, a powerful wind blew him back.

"Leave him alone!" Sakura said as she stepped out from an alleyway.

'Damn! I am in no condition to fight her now! I'll withdraw for now, and get Syaoran while he's healing.' With that Tatsuki leaped on to a rooftop, and ran off. After making sure he was gone, Sakura ran over to Li.

"Kero!" she called. The beast popped out from her pocket.

"What is it?" he asked lazily.

"We have to get him to Chiharu and fast! He's losing a lot of blood!"

"All right, but if he hits me when he wakes up the next time he's injured like this he's on his own!" Kero said, and created the shield.

"Don't worry Kero, I'll make sure he won't."

OOOOO

When Li opened his eyes, he found himself a black void deprived of sound and light. But the next thing he knew he was on a street in his old town, watching his younger self talking to an old man in black robes.

"He has gone to too far Syaoran," the old man said.

"What do you mean?" his younger self asked.

"He has been killing off key members. If he continues kiss this place, and your family goodbye. You must stop him Syaoran."

"Why the hell do I have to? Get one of the other two do it. Even better Yamazaki. He's better at spear fighting than I am." The old man let out a groan of frustration.

"You're the one who hired him, which means you must be the one to stop him."

"Well how the hell was I supposed to know he would go berserk? It's not my fault."

"But it's your reasonability! It is your reasonability to protect your family, and the towns people that's what being a…"

"All right I get it old man!" he barked. "I've heard that damn lecture more times than I care to count. I'll do it, but this better be the last time I'm ordered to do something like this." The scene then changed to his younger self on the ground with two long and deep slash marks on his back while Tatsuki was lying lifeless on the ground. But something caught Li's eyes as he looked at Tatsuki's body.

"What the heck is that?" he wondered as he got a closer look. Then it finally hit him. "No wonder he survived!" The scene then went back to the void, but suddenly a big green flash covered the entire void. When it cleared Li was now staring at two huge red eyes.

OOOOO

The chestnut haired boy's eyes fluttered open and he found himself in one of the rooms at Yamazaki's dojo. He sat up, and put a hand on his now bandaged forehead.

"Did I transform during the fight. Because if I did…" his thought was interrupted when the door opened, and reveled Sakura in the doorway.

"Oh good you're awake," she said with a smile. Li just shot her a glare.

"What do you want?" he growled. Sakura frowned.

"I just came to see how you were doing. You were in bad shape when Kero and I found you. Lucky for us Chiharu is so good at patching people up." Li stared at her with little interest as he got out of bed. "What are you doing? You need to rest!"

"Shut up," he growled as he pulled on his cloak. "I have unfinished business with Tatsuki."

"You can't fight in the condition you're in! You'll only get worse," Sakura said and tried to get him back to bed, but Li only shoved her away.

"Leave me alone!" he muttered coldly, as he grabbed his sword. "And if you follow me, you're dead." Sakura froze as he walked passed her, and out the door. When she finally regained her nerve, Li was gone.

"Sakura, I just saw Li leave," Tomoyo said.

"I know."

"Well shouldn't we follow him? I mean in the condition he's in he might as well be walking to his own death." Sakura hesitated as Li's words played through her mind. She shivered slightly when she remembered the harshness, in his voice, it as though she was his enemy. After a while the emerald eyed girl sighed.

"All right, let's go."

OOOOO

Li took a quick breath as he fingered the bandages around his torso, and stomach. His wounds had already opened again, and the once pale bandages around him were now quickly turning crimson. He took a knee, and rested against a tree in the forest near the town. He looked up at the sky, and noticed it was pitch black with the stars as his only light. The last rays of light were fading far west, and setting underneath the trees. The light wind suddenly became harsh and loud. As soon as Li felt a familiar presence he jumped away from the tree, and drew his sword. Standing on a tree branch was none other than Tatsuki.

"So you decided to come to me. Not a smart decision, but it benefits me nonetheless."

"This ends tonight Tatsuki!" Li declared and went into a fighting stance.

"Oh really, then by all means, come." At that moment they were gone, and became nothing but dark blurs in the darkness.

'If I'm right, then this fight shouldn't last very long,' Li thought as he parried a straight thrust from Tatsuki. The spear fighter hit Li's sword away, and gave him a swift jab to his stomach with his spear butt. The chestnut haired boy clutched his stomach and stepped back.

"Oh, I see you came here injured. What a foolish move," Tatsuki said as he watched Li cough out blood, and his bandage becoming stained with red. Just as Li was starting to regain his nerve, Tatsuki appeared in front of him, and slammed him into a tree with a strong knee blow. The young man quickly ducked under a horizontal slash that cut down the tree, and jumped behind him.

'I have to hold out, and wait for him to use that Dragon Rush, otherwise this whole thing is useless,' Li thought as he watched Tatsuki dash towards him. A second later, Tatsuki slashed the young man across his chest making the wounds there even worse. Li's hand became just as crimson as the blood staining his bandages as he clutched the wounds on his chest. Tatsuki appeared behind him again, and slashed his back. He then followed up with a swift stab to the back of his thigh. As soon as Li took a knee, Tatsuki appeared in front him, and knocked him back with a hard swing to his head with the wood of the spear.

"Look at you, you have no power left. It was foolish to fight me with all your wounds," the spear fighter said as he looked over the now blood covered Li. "You should have known that you couldn't fight with all those wounds. No one survives my Dragon Rush. And if they do, they're so weak and lost so much blood that they can barely fight."

'Just keep talking Tatsuki,' Li thought as he started to mutter something. Tatsuki suddenly went up to him, and kicked him into the trunk of a tree.

"Time to finish you," he whispered in his ear, and raised his spear. Li, who had his eyes closed this entire time, snapped them open, and knocked him away with a strong kick. Once he was far enough, Li leaped onto the highest tree branch of the tree.

"I'm not going to die that easily!" he shouted. Tatsuki just smirked, and started to gather the blue aura around him.

"So I see the only way to kill you would be with Dragon Rush. That's fine with me." As soon as the blue aura was gathered it covered Tatsuki's body completely, and he dashed towards the tree.

"Prefect! Raijou!" Li shouted, and in seconds his body was covered by electrical energy. The blue aura that was surrounding Tatsuki took the form of a dragon as he leaped into the air. The electricity around Li became a fierce electric tiger as he shot towards the blue dragon like a bullet.

"Dragon Rush!"

"Electric Claw!" The claws of the two beasts collided with a thunderous explosion that caused a shockwave that echoed through the entire forest. When the two great auras faded all the leaves on the nearby trees were gone, and many others were broken in half. Li was on the ground a knee down, and Tatsuki was on the tree branch Li was on with a large hole between them. Everything was still for a few moments before Tatsuki's spear broke in half, and he fell out of the tree.

"But…. how?" Tatsuki asked weakly. Li smirked as he fell to his knees.

"It was your spear. I thought from the beginning there was no way you could have survived the fight from two years ago. Then I realized that as you lay there you cast a spell on your spear to keep flowing continuous life energy into your body. That's why you were able to heal yourself, and survive the fight. Take away the spear, and I kill you."

"I…can't believe…. after…all this time…. it ends here, but Syaoran you know what you are, and killing me will not let you escape your fate. No matter what you do, you will always be alone," Tatsuki whispered as he took his final breath. When he closed his eyes, Tatsuki's body was reduced to nothing but dust. Li sighed, and started to walk away, thinking about what Tatsuki said.

"No matter what I do I'll always be alone. Is that truly my fate? A fate that I can't escape from?" he asked himself as he reached the edge of the forest. But when he got there he met Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero.

"Man, what the hell happened to you? We leave you alone for a few minutes and you come back looking like crap!" Kero chuckled, but he kissed ground.

"Shut up! What the hell are you doing here anyway!"

"Well we did come to help you, but judging by all the blood on you I'm guessing you beat him?" Tomoyo guessed. Li just scoffed.

"Did you doubt that I could kill him?"

"Actually yes," Sakura replied.

"Whatever. Now come on let's get going."

"Aw, but we didn't even get to say goodbye to Chiharu," Tomoyo complained.

"Is this something you feel compelled to do?" the girls nodded, and Li just groaned. "Fine, go I don't care. But if you take to long I'm outta here, got it?"

"Yep, come on Sakura. Maybe she'll give us some clothes for the road!" Tomoyo exclaimed excitedly.

"That'd be great!" Sakura replied as they ran off. Li just leaned against a tree, and looked up at the sky.

'No matter what I do I'll always be alone huh?' he smiled slightly. 'With those two around, and that stuffed animal, all I want is to be alone.'

AN: Another chapter finished. I hope you liked it. That fight was a pain to write. And if the ending seemed rushed that's because I was trying to finish this chapter before I had to go to school. Anyway what other dangerous lie in wait for Li and the others? What incident occurred two years ago to make Li so angry? How is he able to transform like that? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!


	26. Darkness Rises

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 26

"So here we are in yet another forest!" Kero exclaimed as the group made their way through the woods. "And you our luck with forests!"

"Kero does bring up a good point, do you think we should be going this way. I mean for all we know a demon could pop out of no where," Tomoyo said.

"Just shut up and walk!" Li barked.

"There's just no reasoning with him," Tomoyo whispered to Sakura.

"Tell me about it," Sakura agreed. "But look on the bright side at least it's a beautiful day!" She was right, there no trace of a cloud in the sky, the sun was shinning brightly on them through the trees, and a light breeze passed through them every so often.

"Nothing ever brings you down does it Sakura?" Tomoyo said with a smile.

"I still think this place is lurking with demons, just waiting to kill us, and take those jewels," Kero muttered.

"That reminds me, hey Li, do you know anything about the jewels. Like why they were created or how?" Sakura asked.

"No, why do you want to know?" he replied only half interested in what she was saying.

"It's just been bugging me ever since we started. Who would create something that only destroys? I mean what's the point of that?"

"Wait, if they only destroy why would you want them Li?" Tomoyo asked, but Li only shot them an ice-cold glare.

"My own reasons, and it's none your business anyway," he growled.

"Bad move Tomoyo," Sakura whispered.

"I know, but I had to ask." That was another issue that made Sakura wonder. Why is it that Li hated to talk about himself? Was it really all that bad for him growing up that he just refused to talk about it? Sakura's chain of thought was broken when an arrow suddenly sailed through the air towards them. The arrow whizzed passed Sakura's cheek, and hit the tree behind her. Li instantly drew his sword, and went into a fighting position.

"Who's out there!" he shouted.

"Go back," a strong female voice ordered from the bushes.

"Show yourself you damn coward!" Li shouted back. Almost instantly, a young woman stepped out from the bushes. Her face was rounded, but not as soft or as smooth as most girls Li has seen. She had piercing blue eyes with long green hair in a high ponytail. She wore the traditional garments of a priestess, and had and a bow and arrow wrapped around her fingers, ready to shoot again.

"Leave now, or leave with countless arrows imbedded in your bodies," she threatened coldly as she took aim.

"Wait, please. We aren't going to do anything to this place if that's what your worried about," Tomoyo said trying to reason with the miko. "We're just passing through."

"Don't lie to me," the priestess shot back, and fired the arrow at Tomoyo's feet, making the girl jump back. "I could sense the power of the deadly jewels even from my village. You have three of them, and I know you only want more. I won't let you pass so that you can destroy my village just for more jewels!"

"How does she know about the jewels?" Sakura whispered to Li.

"Moron, it is a well known legend," Li replied. Sakura pouted, and was about to say something back when another arrow flew past them, and hit a tree two feet away.

"The next one won't miss. Now drop the jewels and go," the priestess growled, and set up another arrow.

'Damn, this miko isn't messing around,' Li thought. 'And she's no ordinary priestess either. I can sense a powerful spiritual aura from her. This won't be easy.' Just as another arrow whizzed through the air, Li quickly moved out of the way and dashed towards the priestess.

"So looks like you've decided to leave with arrows in your body!" The miko let another arrow fly, but Li easily slashed it away.

"You'll have to do better than that!" he exclaimed.

"So it looks like your no ordinary human," the priestess said as she drew out a set of talismans and placed them on some of her arrows. "So I won't use ordinary arrows." Another arrow whistled through the air, but the projectile was covered in a pink aura that threw Li off guard for a quick moment.

'Sealing arrows,' he thought. 'I knew she was no ordinary priestess.' Li swiftly jumped back, letting the projectile hit the ground. But as soon as it did, an explosion was triggered, and when the smoke cleared, a medium sized hole was where the arrow hit.

"What kind of arrows are those!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah Kero, what's the deal?" Tomoyo asked the yellow beast.

"They're called sealing arrows. Used only by the most high-ranking priests and priestess. The user inputs their own spiritual energy within a sealing talisman to increase its power, then when it hits a demon or a human with magical energy it automatically seals their powers, making them defenseless!" Kero explained to the girls.

"So she's going to seal Li's powers just to finish him off?" Tomoyo concluded. Kero nodded.

"Looks that way."

"Dodge this!" the priestess shouted, and fired two arrows at a time. Li managed to slash them away, and dash towards the hill she was on. Another pair shot towards him like bullets, and he had no time to dodge or to slash them away.

"You aren't the only one with talismans!" he exclaimed as he drew out one of his. "Element Wind!" the barrier quickly took form around him, and the arrows bounced off of it. But the shield suddenly disappeared as fast it came.

"You'll need a more powerful spell to defend yourself against me." In a flash two more arrows were speeding towards the chestnut haired boy. Li quickly jumped to the left and ran towards her. When he saw another one flying at him, he swiftly jumped into the air.

"Element Lighting!" The blast knocked the next two off course, and gave Li enough time to attack. In seconds the priestess was stumbling back with her bow cut in half.

"Damn," she muttered.

"Game over priestess," Li said when he pointed his sword to her throat. "I hope ready to be with lord."

"Li, stop!" Sakura exclaimed as she, Tomoyo and Kero ran towards them. When Li turned his head for a quick second, the priestess took her chance and blasted Li back with a wave of spiritual energy from her hand. When he was on the ground, she stood over him with her hand glowing pink.

"Shit," Li growled.

"Now die," she said coldly.

"Wait. Please don't kill him," Sakura pleaded as she approached the miko. The miko's eyes widened when she saw Sakura.

"You, identify yourself," she said slowly as if in a trance.

"I'm Sakura Kinomoto."

'Kinomoto!' the miko thought in shock.

"Is something the matter?" Sakura asked.

"Tell me, do you know or are related to Nadeshiko Kinomoto?"

"How do you know my mom?" The priestess stepped back slightly in shock, and allowed Li to get on his feet.

"Forgive me. I had no idea you were Nadeshiko's daughter," she said as bowed. Li raised an eyebrow at the gesture while Tomoyo, Sakura, and Kero had looks of pure confusion on their faces. "I am Tsukido, please follow me to my village."

"How does she know your mom?" Tomoyo asked her friend as they were following Tsukido. Sakura replied with an 'I don't know.'

"I barely even remember my mom. My brother can remember her, but that really doesn't help us now."

"You think she did some traveling before you were born?" Sakura shrugged.

"It's a possibility, that would explain how she got Kero and the kamikaze necklace." As the girls talked, Kero and Li were in deep thought.

'Nadeshiko, I've heard that name somewhere before, but where?' Kero thought. He squeezed his eyes shut, and struggled hard to remember something about his past, but everything was a blur. As he tried harder he managed to remember one memory.

Flashback 

"Nadeshiko! Nadeshiko!" a man yelled as he rushed into a temple in the mountains. A woman with long amber hair like Sakura's stood up, and approached him.

"I have terrible news!" the man exclaimed. Nadeshiko tensed, and made a fist with her sweaty palms.

"What news," she asked hesitantly. The man muttered something her ear, and it caused the woman to break down to her knees and cry her heart out.

End Flashback 

"Oh yeah that helps," Kero growled in frustration. Why couldn't he remember anything about his past? He knew Nadeshiko was someone important, but why? Li was having slightly similar thoughts.

'Nadeshiko. Nadeshiko. I've heard that name a couple times while I was studying with Wei, but no one really told me who she was,' Li thought hard and tried to remember something that he heard about Nadeshiko, but he couldn't. 'Damn it! I feel like this is something I'm supposed know, but I don't.'

"Here we are," Tsukido announced. The village was in a very secluded area of the forest. If they were walking on their own, they would have missed it completely. It was not a large town like the one they were just in a few days ago, but it wasn't small either. The houses were made of a hard wood, and were grouped together so everyone most likely each other. The people were slow moving as if they had no worries or nowhere to be in a hurry. The shops were about as large the houses, and the only rather large building was the temple on top of a fleet long steps.

"Tsukido!" a man called as they walked into the village. Everyone seemed to stop once they saw Li and the others. "You dare to bring outsiders into the village! You are to protect seclusion of this village! Not revel it to outsiders!"

"Calm down Huido. They are not your ordinary outsiders. This one," she said and pointed a finger at Sakura. "Is the daughter of Nadeshiko Kinomoto." For a few moments everything was still as the villagers took it all in, but then they all crowded around Sakura bombarding her questions, and comments. It was as though she was type of star, and the young girl had spirals in her eyes at the overwhelming questions she getting.

"Fetch the priest! He must hear this!" a villager shouted to a passing boy. The boy, after hearing the news rushed to the temple.

"Father! Father!" the boy yelled as he ran up the stairs. A man wearing a priest's garments stepped out of the temple. He had a long face, and slightly paled skin from being inside most of the time. His blue eyes fell on the boy who was running towards him.

"What is it child?" he asked kindly. The boy paused for a minute to catch his breath.

"The daughter of Nadeshiko is here," he reported in-between pants.

"Is this true?" he asked. The boy nodded, and the priest patted his head as he went down the stairs. "This is fantastic news!" Meanwhile back in the village the people were still crowed around Sakura.

"Don't you think we should help?" Tomoyo asked with a sweatdrop.

"Let her handle her own problems," Li replied as he walked away.

"Where you going?" Kero wondered.

"To get some information. You two watch her, and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Which I'm sure she will," Li ordered and walked off. When he left, that's when the priest came and parted the crowd slightly. He looked over Sakura for a few moments, and studied everything about her, her hair, and her eyes, even her fingernails. Sakura blushed at the amount of attention she was getting here, and she wasn't even sure what her mother did for these people.

"My children!" the priest shouted when he finished looking over Sakura. "This is truly a glorious day! The daughter of our savoir followed her mother's footsteps and has come to our village. We must feast and celebrate her arrival!" The crow cheered and soon departed to gather things for the feast. "Now follow me to the temple. You will rest, and gain your strength for the feast tonight." The father then walked towards the temple leaving a dumbfounded Sakura.

"I don't get this at all," she groaned. "What did mom do?"

"I don't know, but at least we're getting some decent food for once!" Kero exclaimed excitedly. Tomoyo rolled her eyes and turned to her friend.

"Don't worry Sakura, Li went out to get some information about this whole thing. I'm sure he'll find out something," she reassured her.

"And what if he doesn't?" Tomoyo just smiled.

"Well then, at least we'll get a free meal out of this."

OOOOO

"I have news," a black figure reported to a woman kneeling at a alter.

"What news?" the woman asked. "Is it about that disgusting village?" the other figure nodded.

"It seems that daughter of Nadeshiko has come to the village with a few companions of hers." The woman tensed for a few minutes before she replied.

"You know how much I despise Nadeshiko. Unfortunately it was not me who killed her. How I wish though. To feel her blood through my fingertips were be oh so delicious. But now your saying her daughter has come?"

"Yes ma'am. They are preparing a feast in her honor." The woman smirked in the darkness.

"It won't be the same as killing Nadeshiko, but it's close enough in my eyes. Ugrio," she said.

"Ma'am."

"Looks like we're going to a feast."

OOOOO

"So tell me, what did this Nadeshiko woman do for your village?" Li asked a group of people.

"Oh she saved our village from a powerful demon!" an old man answered.

"You senile fool!" another old man shouted. "She stopped an evil invading army!"

"You're both wrong!" yet another old man yelled. "She saved us from a sickness caused by a demon!" Li sighed and walked off as the old men started to argue among themselves.

"So what did this Nadeshiko woman do for your village?" Li asked a younger crowd.

"Oh that's an easy one," a young girl replied. "She sealed away a gang of demons terrorizing us."

"No didn't she purify the possessed priest?" her older brother said.

"No way man!" another boy yelled. "She sealed away 200 powerful and hungry demons!" Li groaned in growing frustration as this led to another argument among them.

"What did Nadeshiko do for this village that made her so famous?" Li asked a tavern of men.

"That beautiful woman rescued all the men from a crazy demon woman!" a man yelled and gulped down a beer, but a man smacked him over his head.

"Moron! She saved those children from a fire!" But another one came and punched him in his stomach.

"Idiots, she prevented a great war from starting here!" Li made a tight fist as he watched a barroom brawl start up. He had to resisted the urge from killing everyone in this village.

'This is hopeless,' he concluded, and dodged a flying beer bottle.

OOOOO

"Hey, how'd it go? Find out anything about Sakura's mom?" Tomoyo asked when Li walked into the room the priest prepared for them.

"I found out either these stupid people need get their damn stories straight, or your mother was a very powerful woman," Li replied as he sat in the corner frustration obviously in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Sakura wondered. Li told her everything that happened while he was out. "Wow I never thought that my mom could do such things."

"I doubt that all of them true, but I can't ask these stupid people because they can't get their damn stories right," Li growled. "But then again, there is someone I haven't asked yet."

"Where you going?" Kero asked. Li replied with a simple 'out,' and left the room.

"I don't understand him at all," Tomoyo mumbled, and started to look through her bag.

"What are you looking for Tomoyo?" Sakura wondered as she looked over her shoulder. Tomoyo suddenly squealed in delight as she pulled something out. "What is it?" Tomoyo spun around and held up a light blue dress.

"You're party outfit!"

"My what!" Sakura exclaimed.

"You had a dress in you bag this whole time?" Kero asked.

"Of course not! I bought this for Sakura-chan when we in town with Chiharu. As soon as I saw it I knew it would suit you perfectly!" Sakura and Kero sweatdropped. "Now don't just stand there! Try it on!" Tomoyo suddenly dragged Sakura in a room to change.

"What a weird friend Sakura has," Kero mumbled.

OOOOO

"What do you want?" Tsukido asked coldly when she sensed Li's presence behind her. The stars provided the only light in the dark, cool forest. A light wind blew through them as they talked.

"Information," Li replied simply.

"On what?"

"Nadeshiko."

"What about her?"

"Just what the hell did she do to make her so damn famous?"

"Why are you asking me? Shouldn't you ask the other villagers?"

"I did, and they gave me no real answers. They can't even get their damn stories right. Now tell me, who is Nadeshiko?" Tsukido smirked in slight amusement.

"Tell, just what did the villagers tell you?" Li started to tell her all the stories the villagers told him, and how no one knew which one was really true. When he finished, Tsukido chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"The reason the villagers told you all those stories is because Nadeshiko really did do all those things." A look of shock, and surprise passed Li's face.

"What the hell are you talking about? There's no way a human could do all those things in her lifetime!" Tsukido chuckled again.

"Obviously you didn't meet Nadeshiko while she was alive, because if you did you would understand how she able to do everything the villagers said she did." Li growled in frustration.

"Just give me a real damn answer for once! How and when did she do all those things?" Tsukido sighed and turned to face Li.

"A few years ago during the Oni War, our village was in chaos. Demons and armies would always come and pillage our poor town down to the last gold we had. The father said if we wished and prayed long enough the Supreme Being would come and save us. Well as you can probably imagine, everyone in the village hoped and prayed for so long, until one day during a demon raid, Nadeshiko came out of no where and cleared away all of the demons with a wave of her hand." Li raised an eyebrow.

"How was she able to do that? In a raid there are at least ninety demons or even one hundred how could she clear away so many demons at once?"

"Nadeshiko was no ordinary human you see. She had an aura that not even the father could identify, it was so unusual, and even to this day I haven't seen anyone with an aura like hers. We expected her to leave as soon as it was over, but to our surprise she didn't, she stayed. She said she had not fulfilled her purpose in this village. As the days passed, and the war wedged on, our village continued to be a target, but with Nadeshiko on our side we were able to keep our village safe.

"She even taught some of the older villagers to fight and use their auras as a defense. When famine or disease hit, Nadeshiko was able to use her powers to heal, and help find food. Then when the war slowed to a close, Nadeshiko took her leave, despite our pleas for her to stay. When all hoped that she would return one day, however a few years after she left, we received news that she had been killed."

"How? I don't think someone with her powers could be killed so easily." Tsukido shrugged.

"I'm not sure how either, but since she died we moved the village here, and trained powerful monks, and priestess like myself to defend the village. We do not want another disaster like the Oni War to happen again."

"So you treat that stupid girl like royalty to honor her mother huh? It's all starting to make sense." Li smirked, but something still bothered him. "I have one last question, what was the color of her aura?"

"When she was normal, it was pink, but when she was in battle it switched to sliver." Li's eyes suddenly widened.

'Pink, then to Sliver! There's no way! But there aren't any of them left! They died during one of the major wars, but still there's no other explanation!' Li's chain of thought was broken when a cold feeling passed through his body. He turned to the village in the distance, then to Tsukido who seemed to sense it to.

"A demon! But how?" she whispered.

"Worry about how it got there later, that thing has to be stopped or else you won't have a village to protect!" Li shouted, and started to make his way towards the small town.

'But if I'm right about her mother, then that means that stupid girl could be a…'

OOOOO

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero walked to the center of the village to find it was covered with tables that went around in a circle, and in the center was an area for dancers, story tellers, and the father to say the opening prayer. The tables were covered top to bottom with all sorts of food and drinks, most of them Sakura and others have never seen before. The father came from behind them, and brought them to their seats.

"This is going to rock!" Kero exclaimed excitedly as he looked hungrily at all the food around him. The beast was about to dive in when Sakura quickly slapped him over the head. "What the heck was that for!"

"Shhh, Kero, the Father is about to say the opening prayer!"

"Yeah, and it'll be extremely rude if started to stuff your face while everyone else was praying," Tomoyo added. Kero huffed and looked away annoyed.

"My children! The Supreme Being has blessed us, he has guided Sakura, daughter of our savior Nadeshiko to our village. We were not able to fully thank Nadeshiko for all that she did for us, but hopefully by honoring her daughter, she will be able to see just how much we wish to thank her. Now let us pray." Everyone bowed their heads in prayer, and all was silent for a few moments. Then, after a while everyone raised their heads, and said a quick, but loud,

"Amen."

"Now let us eat!" As soon as those words escaped the Father's lips, a table was suddenly flipped over by a shadow. Everyone stood up, and looked around in a panic. Everything was still for a few seconds before four shadow tentacles suddenly shot up from the ground, and knocked away all those around it. The tables were sliced in two, and flipped over. People were grabbed, and hurled through the air like balls.

"What's going on Father!" a woman cried, but she was suddenly grabbed by one of the shadow tentacles. The priest stepped back in fear, but another one wrapped itself around his neck as raised him in the air. Then in the blink of an eye, woman rose out from the ground. She had long black hair, and eyes as black as coal. She wore a completely black kimono with dark bracelets around her wrists. Needless to say, she was a woman was darkness.

"Sorry father, but this party is over," she chuckled, and the tentacle hurled him away. The villagers huddled together in fear as the woman walked towards them. She chuckled. "Not so brave when your precious father is not around huh? Now tell me, where is Nadeshiko's daughter. If you tell me, I spare your lives."

"I'm right here," Sakura said calmly and walked towards the dark woman.

"So you're Nadeshiko's daughter. I have to say, you look a little like her."

"Who are you, and what do you want?" The woman chuckled.

"So your mother didn't tell you about me huh? Well my name is Risuba, the priestess of the dark, and your bitch of a mother ruined my life!"

"Kero what's a dark priestess?" Tomoyo asked.

"Just as the name suggests. A priestess whose power is drawn to darkness, because of this they are able to cast more powerful curses, and summon demons," the beast explained.

"What do you mean my mother ruined your life? She would never do that to someone on purpose!" Risuba chuckled darkly.

"You didn't know her like I did. She was always looking for attention, she loved to be surrounded by men! She was a slut! Just a stupid attention craving slut!" Sakura's bangs covered her eyes as she looked down, and she made a fist. She didn't know much about her mother, but she knew enough to know what Risuba was saying was a lie. The amber haired girl slowly picked up a stick, and transformed it into her weapon.

"Risuba," Sakura said slowly. "I don't know what you want, or why you came here, but if you're looking for a fight, you just found one!" The dark priestess smirked, and made her dark aura flare up around her.

"Bring it on little girl! And I hope you won't hold back on me." Sakura growled slightly, and dashed towards her.

"Don't worry! I won't!"

AN: Sorry I took so long, but High School is really starting to crash on me since my teachers are preparing us for finals. Plus I have a paper due at the end of the week, and tons of other stuff. Anyway, is Sakura able to defeat Risuba? Can Li make it in time to help her? How did Nadeshiko ruin Risuba's life? And what does Li know about Nadeshiko to make him so shocked? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. Oh and for those of you wanting some S&S all I have to say is be patient, please. And in case you didn't notice, in the last chapter, the scene before Li fought Tatsuki for the second time is the closest thing you'll get to S&S for a while. Anyway other than that, See ya next chapter.


	27. The Power of Darkness

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 27

The wind fiercely through the village as Sakura and Risuba glared at each other. Sakura gripped her weapon tightly while the dark priestess just smirked. Tomoyo looked worriedly at her friend. She knew that she was strong, but she also knew that Risuba was on a much higher level than Sakura was.

"You know, you aren't going to accomplish much by just standing there," Risuba chuckled. Sakura took that as a hint and dashed towards the dark priestess. Risuba smirked as she started to dodge Sakura's strong, but wild swings. The young girl grunted as she took a step forward attacked with a horizontal swing. But Risuba easily caught her staff, and pulled her face into her hand. In a matter of seconds, a powerful force blew Sakura back, and slid back to Tomoyo and Kero's feet.

"Ow…." She groaned as she held her head.

"You'll have to do better than that if you want to be me little girl," Risuba chuckled as she watched Sakura get up. The amber haired girl gripped her staff, and readied herself for another attack.

"Be careful Sakura," Kero warned. "This isn't your ordinary dark priestess."

"What do you mean Kero?" Sakura wondered.

"Her aura. It's so wild and so excessive for a human. It's almost like the aura I'm sensing isn't hers." Sakura looked closely at the dark priestess and saw her large aura that was dancing like flames around her body. But she also sensed something fiercer, something more evil beneath it all as if it wasn't just her aura inside her body.

"I don't know much about this kind of thing Sakura-chan but please be careful," Tomoyo said. Sakura nodded.

"Don't worry I will." The amber haired girl turned to face the dark priestess who still had that same smirk on her lips.

"Are you ready to fight, or do want to keep whispering to little friends?" Sakura replied by dashing towards the dark priestess with her staff ready for an attack. "That's what I thought."

"Take this!" Sakura shouted as attacked with a strong downward strike. Risuba just chuckled.

"You're a slow learner aren't you," she said as she easily dodged Sakura's attack, and outstretched her hand. It was Sakura's turn to smirk as she felt the wave of dark energy shoot towards her. The young girl quickly dodged to the left, and countered with a blast of wind that sent Risuba flying into the tables.

"Actually I learn pretty fast," Sakura corrected with a smirk.

"Not bad," Risuba said as she made her way out of the rubble. "But can you handle this? Dark Wave Snake!" The dark priestess slammed her hands on the ground, and a wave of dark energy moved through the ground like a snake, and suddenly shot up in front of Sakura. The blow hit her fast and hard like a hammer, and the next thing she knew, she was flat on her back staring at the stars.

"Sakura are you all right?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. It just caught me off guard a little." Sakura immediately jumped to her feet, and charged towards the awaiting Risuba.

"Too slow," she whispered to the younger girl as she sidestepped her downward strike. Sakura pivoted on her front foot, and attacked with a strong horizontal strike, but Risuba easily dodged by jumping in the air. Sakura growled slighting in frustration, and looked up, only to be knocked back by another dark wave attack.

"This is harder than I thought," she muttered to herself.

"You know this is really starting to get boring. Are you sure your Nadeshiko's kid, because she put up a much better fight than you. She wasn't your ordinary slut," Risuba chuckled. Sakura made a fist.

"Stop talking about my mom like that!" she exclaimed. "I may not have many memories of her, but I know she's a much better person you'll ever be!"

"Don't make me laugh. Your mother was nothing but a dirty whore. Always surrounded by men, always having suitors for marriage it was disgusting!"

"Shut up! What do you know about my mother anyway!" Sakura shouted. Risuba just chuckled.

"Did mother tell you anything about herself before she died? I was one of her closest friends."

"What!"

"That's right kid, and even when we were kids boys would always surround her like she was a queen. For as long as I knew her, I was always her shadow! She said that it was no big deal, and that it really hated it, but if she hated it why didn't she stop it! Boys would always fight or have arguments about who would take her, and she didn't do a thing about it!"

"So what were you jealous or something?" Sakura asked, but Risuba just laughed.

"Jealous? HA! I couldn't care less back then. What Nadeshiko did or didn't do was her own business I didn't care. But that was before he came."

"He?"

"Years ago a stranger came to our town, and I was the first to see him. He was so handsome and gentle. He may have had some rough edges but I easily saw through that. During his first couple nights I would always meet him, and we would talk and get to know each other better. After a while I felt as if we could have something together, and one day I was about to make my move when," Risuba gritted her teeth as she spoke the next set of words. "That slut your call a mother comes along and he completely forgets about me! And what happens after that you ask? Well they run off and get married that's what!"

The dark aura that surrounded Risuba suddenly flared up, and became visible to anyone who could see. Kero's eyes widened when he felt the incredible intensity and magnitude of Risuba's dark aura. He had sensed some dark auras before, but nothing like what he was feeling right now. What Nadeshiko did to her must have been truly terrible in her eyes for her to adapt such a powerful dark aura into her being.

"I get it so this about my dad Fujitaka?" Sakura figured. Risuba raised an eyebrow.

"Fujitaka? Who the hell is that?" Sakura's eyes widened when she heard those words.

"What are you talking about? Isn't he the guy you were talking about just now?"

"Of course not!"

"Then who was it!" Sakura exclaimed she was so confused right now. If her mom had married someone before her dad, was it possible that she and Touya were someone else's children? Why did her mother remarry, and where was this man Risuba was talking about just now? So many questions filled Sakura mind as she waited for an answer from Risuba.

"Who it was is none of your business," the dark priestess replied smugly. The younger girl growled in frustration and anxiousness.

"Tell me please! I have to know, who did my mom marry before she met my dad!" Risuba just chuckled.

"You'll just have to talk to your mother about that."

"I can't she's dead, remember?"

"Of course I do, which means you never find out because I'm sure as hell not telling you. It's not my fault your mother was a slut and married two men in her lifetime."

"Stop calling her that!" Sakura shouted. Risuba laughed.

"And just what are you going to do about it?" Sakura replied by charging head first towards the dark priestess with her staff raised above her head. Risuba jumped into the air just as Sakura brought down her attack that left a medium sized hole in the ground.

"What power," Tomoyo mumbled as she looked at the hole. "I didn't know Sakura-chan was this strong."

"Power isn't everything Tomoyo. Even if Sakura was the strongest one here it wouldn't matter because the way she's fighting, she has no hope of winning," Kero said as she watched Sakura leap into the air after Risuba.

"What do you mean?"

"Right now Sakura is swinging her staff around like it's a club. She has no real strategy or battle plan, she's just swinging around hoping that she'll hit her. You can't win any battle if you fight like that. There's just no way, and Sakura better figure that out fast, or else she's doomed."

Risuba giggled as she dodged another one Sakura's attacks as they started to fall from the air. The amber haired girl quickly turned around to attempt another attack, only to have it caught by the dark priestess.

"You'll have to do better than that," she whispered, and in seconds Sakura was sliding through the dirt, compliments of another one of Risuba's dark waves.

"She's harder than I first thought," Sakura mumbled.

"Sakura, maybe we should try and get Li. He could probably beat her," Tomoyo suggested, but she shook her head.

"No Tomoyo, I can do this. If he can defeat demon beasts, insane killers, thunder warriors, and notorious criminals, then I can beat one dark priestess."

"HA! You, beat me? That's a laugh! You haven't been able to hit me ever since this fight started, and now you're saying that your going to beat me? HA!"

"Sakura just be careful she's a lot different than other opponents," Kero whispered. The young girl nodded, and started to walk towards the dark priestess in front of her.

"You have heart I'll give you that. You're mother had it too. That battle we had was glorious! But now I fight her daughter, and it's too easy!"

"So you guys fought over one man?"

"It goes much deeper than that. Let's just say I had some pent up rage and anger I needed to get out. And when I finally released it gave me great power! Power to even rival Nadeshiko! The battle took three days and nights, but I was slowly gaining the upper hand. But then that bitch pulls off one final spell, and curses me!" Risuba growled as she thought about that day.

Flashback 

The sky was a bright crimson that signaled day three of a long and hard battle. Dust flew up in the air and covered the combatants slightly, but anyone who would pass by would be able to see the two women's shadows as they battled. The long grasses suddenly shifted with the wind as Risuba unleashed an attack that made Nadeshiko fly back into a tree.

"HA! You're way too weak now Nadeshiko!" the younger dark priestess laughed as she hovered over the woman.

"Risuba, why? We used to be friends. Why have you let the darkness of your heart take control of you like this?" Nadeshiko asked as she struggled to get up. The battle had taken its toll on her. Her once white and sliver robes were now stained in crimson blood from her body, and her right sleeve was torn completely off.

"My own reasons! Now just die!" Risuba suddenly fired rapid dark blasts at the weakened woman, who quickly summoned a shield around her. "So you still have power left huh?"

"If this truly how you wish to be, then you leave me with no choice," Nadeshiko said. "Wind Shards!" The shield quickly broke into small shards like a wind, and shot towards Risuba.

"You'll have to do better than that Nadeshiko!" The dark priestess laughed as she jumped in the air to avoid the attack. When she looked down, she gasped when she saw the older woman chanting something. "Summoning won't save you now!"

"You who lives in darkness, may your soul be bound to another of a dark heart. May of two souls of pure darkness consume your entire being!" As soon as she finished the chant, the ground instantly split apart and an aura of pure darkness flew up from the hole, and surrounded Risuba.

"What sorcery is this Nadeshiko!" Risuba screamed as the aura of darkness started to enter her body.

"You're now cursed Risuba. Your soul is now and forever eternally bound to a demon whose soul is pure darkness. It shall feed off the darkness in your heart until it has completely consumed you. However, not even in death can you two be separated."

"You bitch!" she growled, but by now the dark aura had entered her body completely, and she suddenly an indescribable pain in her chest. The younger woman fell to her knees clutching her heart with her breath labored and uncontrollable.

"Goodbye, old friend," Nadeshiko whispered and walked off. All Risuba could do as she left was to moan and groan words no one but her could understand. But when Nadeshiko was almost out of slight, she screamed out understandable words.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS NADESHIKO KINOMOTO!"

End of Flashback 

"Ever since that day the demon that bitch you call a mother sealed inside of me has only gotten stronger and stronger. The pains in my chest have only gotten worse. And one day that demon will consume that last of my heart and kill me. However, by then I would have had my revenge on Nadeshiko, by killing her daughter!" The aura around her suddenly flared up again making it bigger than it ever was before.

"Sakura! This is getting dangerous!" Tomoyo exclaimed as the wind started to pick up.

"I know Tomoyo, just try to hold out for me okay?" Sakura shouted over the increasing wind. "Kero, just what the heck is she doing?"

"I don't know! But it looks like she's summoning something!" Kero shouted back.

"You're going to feel the pain I felt all those years ago! And the only way to do that is to fight in my world! A world devoid of any light or sound! Void of Darkness!" Risuba's aura started to grow bigger and bigger every second until it had covered the entire village in one giant dark orb. Sakura and the others could no longer see the sky or the village. They were in nothing but darkness.

"Kero, where are we?" Sakura asked fearfully as she looked around. "And where's Risuba?"

"I'm not sure, but this place is giving me the creeps," the beast replied.

"It's so cold, and I can barely breathe," Tomoyo whispered as her breath started to become fast and labored.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura exclaimed when she saw her best friend collapse in the darkness.

"Ah yes I guess I forgot to tell you, normal humans have no chance of surviving in this type of place. Only those with magical or spiritual powers can resist the shadows in this void," Risuba's voice chuckled.

"Risuba! Show yourself!" Sakura shouted through the darkness.

"Oh in due time little girl. Just one more thing." As soon as she said those words two sets of long needle like dark blasts shot towards the small group out of no where. Sakura quickly dodged them, and looked around for the dark priestess.

"Your aim will have to be better than that if you want to beat me!" she shouted, but Risuba just laughed.

"But you weren't my target." Sakura was about to ask who was, but her question was answered as soon as she heard the cries of pain coming from Tomoyo, and Kero. She slowly turned around, only to find her friends covered in needles. Their blood stained the black ground around them, and their chests were still and motionless. Sakura knew right then and there, they were dead. Her blood boiled when she heard Risuba laugh through the empty void.

"You….how could you….!" She whispered coldly. "They weren't….even fighting…!"

"I know but I wanted to you to feel the pain I felt when your bitch of a mother stole the one man I loved!" By now Sakura had forgotten all about her mother or Risuba, she only had one picture in her mind right now, and that was the sight in front of her, the lifeless bodies of her closest friends. Her bangs covered her eyes as her normal pink aura flared up, and became pure white.

"RISUBA I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Sakura screamed. Her white aura suddenly lit up the darkness of the void. Her hair became waist length, and became pure white like her aura. Her child-like face lost much of it roundness. The bruises and small cuts she had gotten from the fight suddenly healed, and her eyes went from emerald to dark pink. Unlike her opponents from before, Risuba had no fear in her eyes or her voice, she just laughed.

"So, you've been holding back too eh? Well then in that case the kid gloves come off!" Risuba's dark aura flared up as well. Her black eyes became a dark crimson, and her teeth became fangs.

"I see, so you were holding back this whole time," Sakura said calmly as she stared at the dark priestess.

"That's right!" Two swords suddenly formed in the dark priestess's hands, and she dashed towards Sakura. "It's time I've had my revenge!"

"No, it's time for you to pay for your crimes!" Sakura shouted and dashed towards Risuba with her staff raised.

"ON GUARD!"

OOOOO

Li and Tsukido stopped dead in their tracks when they felt an extremely cold chill pass through their bodies.

"What was that?" she asked.

"So you sensed it too huh. Who ever is giving off this powerful dark aura is using it fully. And I have a feeling that that stupid girl is the middle of all of this somehow," Li replied as he started to run for the village again.

"Are you worried?"

"Worried? HA! Don't make me laugh. I just want to see just what the hell is going on, and to check if my guess is right."

"What guess?"

"My teacher, Wei taught me almost everything I know about magic. He taught me about different types of magicians or clans of magicians. But one clan of magicians that always stuck out and was the most unusual was the Clow clan."

"Clow Clan? I've never even heard about that clan."

"A lot of people haven't. They were completely wiped out a few years ago. But when they thrived they completely mystified the world of magic. According to Wei they could turn pure thought or emotions into pure power. They had no set element or ability to hold them back, they could learn any spell or illusion and make it into their strongest weapon. But even back then coming across a Clow magician was rare. And if you did you probably wouldn't know it."

"Why was that?"

"Well according to Wei they could hide their auras so well they could appear as a normal human if they wanted to. He said they could even change the color of their aura during to battle or at times of peace."

"So you think Nadeshiko and her daughter are a part of the Clow clan?"

"I think they have to be some sort of descendants because from what I read their entire clan was wiped out by a sole demon. They say that their leader Clow Reed escaped some how, but I highly doubt it."

"How could one demon wipe out such a powerful clan?"

"I don't know, but he must have been extremely powerful if could make even Clow Reed flee for his life." Tsukido was about to ask another question when she stopped dead in her tracks. Her body shook when she saw the Father on the ground with blood flowing down the side of his head, and his arm broken.

"Father," she whispered and rushed to his side. "Father! Father open your eyes! What happened!" The priest weakly opened his eyes and saw Tsukido shaking him awake.

"Tsukido….it's a dark priestess. She attacked the village. Nadeshiko's daughter challenged her I believe. I could hear them fighting before, but now I hear nothing," the Father replied slowly. Hearing those words, Li growled, and ran for the village.

"Stay with the priest, and I have to check this out." Before Tsukido could say anything, Li was off.

"Good luck son," the priest whispered.

'How can she be so stupid?' Li thought as he ran for the village. 'She can't handle a dark priestess. But then again if I'm right and she is a true descendant of Clow then she really won't need my help now will she?' Seconds later Li found himself at the village, or rather where it was supposed to be. Instead of a village he saw a giant black orb around it. As he went closer he could hear the sounds of an intense battle going on inside. He was about to touch it to see if he could enter when he a soft, but firm,

"Stop right there." When Li looked up he saw a tall man with short black spiky hair standing on a tree branch. His eyes were a deep violet, and around his waist were two single bladed axes. He wore a black cloak that covered his shirtless body.

"Oh, and just who the hell are you?" Li asked forgetting about Sakura and testing his theory temporarily.

"I am Yukiso the ax wielder. And I cannot allow you to pass through," the demon said as he jumped down in front of Li.

"Oh, and why's that?" the chestnut haired boy asked as he jumped back with his hand over his sword.

"Because my mission is to protect Lady Risuba, who is locked in a battle with the daughter of Nadeshiko. And she has specially told me not to allow anyone to interfere, so in order to stop you I must kill you," Yukiso said as he pulled out his two axes.

"Fine, do what you want, but I'm warning you, I'm not all that easy to kill!" Li exclaimed as he drew his sword.

"Well then, by all means, prove it!"

"Whatever you say!" Within seconds a loud CLANG echoed through the silent village as sword met ax. The two struggled to push each other back, but both were equal in strength. Summoning much of his own strength, Li managed to throw the demon back far enough to launch an attack. "Element Lighting!" Just as the attack was about to hit its mark it was deflected into air by Yukiso's spinning axes.

"Is that the best you can do?" Li just smirked.

"No. But I'm just getting started, so don't count me out just yet." The two fighters' eyes met before they dashed towards each other with their weapons ready for another round.

"Let's go!"

AN: Sorry if it was a little short I just wanted to save the fights for next chapter, especially the Sakura vs. Risuba fight. That I defiantly planned for next chapter. Well actually, this was only going to be a two-part arc but I decided a three-part arc would be just as good. I also wanted to get this chapter out this morning, but it was Saturday and I chores and company over. Well anyway will Sakura be able to get the answers she wants out of Risuba? Will Li be able to help her? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!


	28. Darkness Unleashed

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 28

Li and the demon Yukiso dashed towards each other, both with their weapons drawn, ready to cover their blades in each other's blood. Li quickly blocked a side slash from one of Yukiso's axes, and dodged the other one as he jumped back. Just as he was about launch an offence, two gray blurs made their way towards at an alarming rate. The chestnut haired boy swiftly flipped backwards, and landed with grace only to be met with a barrage of axe attacks. The movements of their weapons were nothing blurs as they engaged deeper in their battle. Li quickly blocked two axe attacks, and countered with a hard left hook across Yukiso's face, making him pull back. The demon protector smirked as he held his cheek.

"I must say you are good for a human. You won't be so easy to kill after all."

"Told you."

"So I guess I should take you more seriously." Li raised an eyebrow at this.

"What do you mean?" Yukiso quietly chuckled.

"You'll see." The chestnut haired fighter raised his guard and readied himself for the worst.

'I can feel his aura increasing, but it's no where close to the two aura's I'm sensing inside this void thing. I'd better finish this fast to see what the hell is going on in there.' Yukiso suddenly dashed towards the young man with his axes ready for another round. Once he was close enough, Li attacked with a fast horizontal strike, but his attack passed through a transparent image of Yukiso.

"Too slow!" The demon said from the air. As he came down with a double axe attack, Li jumped back, barely avoiding the attack. But as soon as Yukiso hit the ground he dashed towards the chestnut haired fighter with another round of fast attacks. Li quickly blocked a strike to his neck, and jumped back to avoid a swing to his stomach.

"Element Fire!" As the fire shot towards Yukiso, the demon protector raised his axes and sliced the fire attack in half. "No way!" Li exclaimed. Yukiso just smirked.

"Now allow me to show you an attack of mine." He raised his axes and his dark aura flowed towards them. "Darkness Blades!" Her swung his axes firing two long blade-like blasts. Li dodged them with ease, but another set shot towards and another one behind that as well. The young man tired to dodge, but the attacks kept coming.

"Element Wind!" The attacks bounced against the shield, and the attacks were stopped.

"Nice trick, but that won't help you at all," Yukiso chuckled, and leaped into the air adding more of his dark aura to his axes. "Now take this!" As he came down, he slashed Li's shield dispelling it, and slashed the young man across his chest. Li jumped back and looked over his fresh new wound. He suddenly fell to one knee when he felt the wound burn, and ache.

"It wasn't even a deep slash, so why does it hurt like this?" he groaned as he clutched it. Yukiso just chuckled.

"Because I have a dark aura, and you have a green aura."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Li asked with a groan.

"When two aura's mix and they don't go together, one slowly destroys the other. Right now my dark aura is stronger than your green aura so it is slowly destroying your body. And the more I slash you the more of my dark aura enters your body. Slowly killing you from inside out," Yukiso explained with a chuckle. Li growled, and got his feet.

"Well then, looks like I just have to avoid your attacks then," he said with a smirk.

"Easier said than done."

"We'll see about that." Yukiso scoffed and sprinted towards the young fighter. The demon protector attacked with a double axe swing towards Li's neck, but the chestnut haired fighter quickly back flipped to avoid it, and connected a kick to Yukiso's chin as he flipped back.

"Not bad," the demon chuckled and spat out a tooth. Yukiso attacked again, but this time Li was ready. He quickly dodged his downward attack, and used his sheath to hit him against his stomach. Yukiso growled, and attacked again, but Li blocked with his sword and the hard wood of his sheath connected with the right side of the demon's face. As Yukiso slowly got to his feet, he suddenly threw one of his axes, which was covered in his dark aura.

"You have to be kidding," Li smirked, and easily dodged. Yukiso spun around and threw his other axe, which Li easily dodged again. "You didn't really expect those to hit me did you? But not only that, but now that you don't have your weapons this fight is over."

"Oh really?" Yukiso said and formed two new axes out of his aura. "I beg to differ!"

"Shit!" Li growled as the demon rushed towards him. Axes met with sword as the two fought across the village outskirts. As Li blocked another attack he heard something behind him. He kicked Yukiso back to see what was coming. When he turned around he saw two dark disc like objects speeding towards him. He swiftly jumped out of the way, but the objects turned around and slashed him in his back. Yukiso laughed as he watched Li go down to his knees in pain.

"Fool! Did you really think you would just dodge that attack and that would be the end of it? That attack follows my will."

"So you threw them just to get them out there, and then while I was fighting you, you brought them back."

"Exactly. And now you body is filled with some much dark aura you can barely move," Yukiso chuckled.

'Damn, he right! I can barely move my fingers, let alone my body! Damn it!' Yukiso raised his axes, and covered them in his dark aura while the first set circled around him.

"Now you die!" he shouted as he hurled his axes at the weakened fighter. Li could only watch helplessly as the axes shot towards him.

"Shit!"

OOOOO

Loud CLANGS echoed throughout the entire void as two auras collided with each other. One was pure white and added light to the dark place, while the other was pure darkness. Both auras moved at speeds that not even the most trained person could see. The only way one could tell there was a battle occurring would the constant shockwaves that shook the silent void. There was a brief burst of light as the two auras collided again, reveling the sight of two young women locked in a fierce battle to the death. The two aura separated and ran along side each other before colliding yet again.

Staff met with swords as Sakura and Risuba continued their ferocious battle. The dark priestess pushed Sakura back and fired two dark blasts from her swords. The younger girl jumped to the side and countered with a windblast that blew Risuba back a few steps. Said priestess leaped into the air and fired countless small dark darts. Sakura jumped back and deflected them by twirling her staff. Risuba came down with a powerful downward strike with her two swords. Sakura quickly brought up her staff and the two weapons met with a loud but brief CLANG!

Pink met with red for second before Risuba back flipped off of Sakura's staff, and double kicked her to the ground. Sakura rolled out of the way as the dark priestess's swords came down, and jab her in the stomach with a butt end of her staff. When Risuba hunched over, Sakura's staff connected with her chin sending her into the air. As Risuba tried to regain her stability, Sakura appeared above her and sent her into the ground with another hard blow from her staff.

Sakura landed with a grace few have ever seen before and waited for the dark priestess to emerge from the ground. When she didn't come out the young girl raised an eyebrow and looked around her. Unknown to her the dark priestess was slowly emerging from the dark ground behind her. Risuba smirked at her confusion, and slashed the young girl's back. Sakura yelped at the sudden pain, but managed to pivot behind her and slash Risuba in her stomach. The two women jumped back for a quick break. Both were panting hard at the intensity of the battle, but neither of their auras were wavering. Risuba smirked as she stared at Sakura who was giving her a deep glare.

'This just like my battle with Nadeshiko. Like Mother like daughter I guess. Even though their motives for fighting are different.'

'Tomoyo, Kero, don't worry I won't let your deaths be in vain,' Sakura thought as she glared Risuba down. The minute the two women's breath returned, their auras flared, but neither moved. Risuba raised an eyebrow.

"What's the matter? Are you hesitant all of a sudden?"

"No," Sakura said calmly, but coldly. "I must know, what was the name of the one my mother loved before my father?" Risuba just chuckled.

"If you have to ask you'll never know."

"Fine then." With that Sakura fired a powerful windblast, but Risuba easily evaded by melting into the darkness. The amber haired girl quickly looked around her trying to catch her before she used another sneak attack. The dark priestess emerged above the younger girl and came down with strong downward strike. Sakura quickly put up her staff and the weapons met again with another loud CLANG! The two women struggled as both of them tried to gain the upper hand. Risuba smirked when she saw Sakura fall to a knee, and her arms slowly giving way to the weight of her swords. The younger girl slowly slipped one hand off of her staff, and onto Risuba's stomach. As soon as she felt it she fired a powerful windblast that sent the dark priestess flying into the dark walls of the void.

Before Risuba had a chance to even breathe, Sakura was on the attack. The dark priestess panicked slightly when she saw the sight of Sakura dashing towards her. Thinking quickly, she slammed her hand on the ground that unleashed a dark shadow that slowly crept towards the dashing Sakura. The minute she stepped on it, the shadow exploded with countless tentacles thrashing around, and wrapping Sakura up in their tight grip. The young girl tried to breakaway, but the tentacles were too strong.

"Don't bother trying to struggle. These tentacles are as tight as I say, so unless you get me to let you go, you'll be trapped there forever!" Risuba laughed.

"How did you do this? And how are you able to disappear into the ground?" Sakura asked coldly.

"I'm one with the darkness girl. Here my powers are at their strongest. I have yet to use my strongest spells though, but I won't have to now." Sakura just chuckled softly. "What's so funny?"

"Don't be so sure of yourself. You haven't won yet." Risuba just scoffed.

"Give me a break, there's no way anyone could escape from those tentacles. I bet not even mother would be able to escape. What makes you think you can?" Sakura answered by closing her eyes and flaring up her pure white aura. The darkness of the void became non-existent as the light from Sakura's aura lit the entire void. Risuba shield her eyes from the intense light, and stepped back trying to get away, but there was no escape the illumination.

The grip the tentacles had on Sakura loosened from the intense light, and the young girl snapped away. Once she was free, her aura died down until the darkness returned, but Risuba was still temporarily blinded. Noticing this, Sakura took her chance and went on the offensive. A split second later, Risuba was on the ground nursing her cheek with Sakura standing over with her fist outstretched. The dark priestess instantly jumped to her feet and attacked Sakura with wild, but powerful attacks.

Brief flashes of light could be seen around the void as the two women's weapons met with constant clangs. Sakura quickly blocked a swing to her head, and countered with a fast jab to Risuba's face with the front of her staff. The dark priestess swiftly dodged a downward strike and slashed Sakura across her stomach. When she saw the younger girl jump back, she blew her back with a dark blast. Sakura hit the wall of the void, and cried out in pain when electricity suddenly entered her body. Risuba chuckled when she saw Sakura fall to her knees.

"That electricity, in case your wondering, is to make sure no one escapes until the one who summoned it says so. Burns doesn't it?" the dark priestess asked when she noticed the smoke rising from Sakura's back. The amber haired girl groaned as she slowly got to her feet.

"This battle isn't over yet," she said, and fired a strong windblast. Risuba chuckled when she saw it coming, and fired one of her dark blasts. When the two blasts collided they cancelled each other out with a great explosion that sent their senders flying into the walls of the void. When the two women recovered, they flared up their aura, and fired their blasts again. But instead of the two blasts hitting each other, they bypassed each other and went straight for their targets, who had no time to dodge or block.

Both Sakura and Risuba cried out in pain when they hit the walls of the void. Smoke rose from their backs as they glared at each other. Their auras were weakening, and both were out of breath. Their pants were the only sound to be heard in the silence. Both women gripped their weapons before they dashed towards each other again. Sakura blocked a series of swings, and attacked with a fast overhead swing. The dark priestess quickly ducked under Sakura's arm, and went for a stab to her back. The amber haired girl spotted this immediately, and back flipped behind her. Before Risuba could attack Sakura raised her staff and sliced off her right arm. But what threw Sakura off guard was that instead of howling in pain, Risuba was laughing.

When the amber haired girl turned around a look of shock crossed her normally emotionless face. (In this form anyway.) Instead of blood, there was an intense dark aura spewing from the wound she had just inflected. The dark aura came together to form another arm, but this arm was different from the last one. Rather than flesh, it was made out of pure darkness. It was longer than her left arm, and had long demonic claws.

"It's been a while since I used this arm. How about you help me break it in!" Risuba laughed manically as she charged. Sakura jumped back in time to dodge a swing from the dark arm, but the arm suddenly stretched like rubber, and grabbed her.

"What!" Sakura exclaimed as the arm started to retract, pulling her towards Risuba's waiting sword.

"It's too bad you'll have to die here, I have to admit you were a good opponent. But this where it ends, but don't worry you'll be with your friends!" A brief expression of anger crossed her face as she looked down her bangs over her eyes. When Risuba was about to deliver the final blow, Sakura brought up her legs and double kick the dark priestess to the ground, which freed her from the dark arm's grasp. As Risuba got up, Sakura dashed towards her, and threw a punch that sent the dark priestess flying into the barrier of the void. Risuba got to her feet with smoke rising from the left side of her face. Her flesh fell to the ground like pieces of hard clay. Sakura's eyes widened when Risuba turned around. Her skin was falling off as if it was pieces of a mask, and behind the mask was some kind of monster. She still had the same red eyes, but the entire left side of her face was made out of pure darkness like her arm. The left side of her jaw was twice as long as the right, and inside her mouth were sharp fangs. And on her forehead was a long horn that turned upwards towards the tip.

'What is she?'

OOOOO

Li struggled to get to his feet, but dark aura inside of him was taking its toll on his body, and the axes were only getting closer. With strength of will alone, Li reached into his cloak, and pulled out a talisman.

"Element Wind!" The wind spell quickly took effect and made a shield around him. The axes bounced off course and hit the trees in the forest. Yukiso growled slightly.

"You got lucky that time," he said as he made another set of axes. Li struggled to his feet as Yukiso charged. The young man could barely move, Yukiso was right, he did just get lucky a few seconds ago.

'But what the hell am I supposed to do? The dark aura inside my body is like poison, it's slowly spreading through my body. Maybe I can isolate it so that only a few parts of my body are affected rather than the whole thing. But I need time,' Li thought as Yukiso charged, but when an idea came to him, he suddenly smirked. 'I know.'

"Get ready to die!" the demon protector shouted as he raised his axes.

"Element Lighting!" Yukiso quickly spun his axes, deflecting the lighting attack.

"I told you, such attacks have no effect on me!" he laughed, but he stopped when he noticed Li was gone. "So you decided to run away eh? You won't get far just so you know!" Meanwhile, Li watched him closely from the branch of a tree.

'Good he has no idea where I am for now. That'll give me some time,' he thought as he started to close his eyes. 'If I channel my aura to where the dark aura is that will isolate it to that one spot so that only that area of my body will be affected.' His green aura flared up, but it didn't give away where he was because it blended in with the green of the trees.

Yukiso wandered through the forest looking for Li, but to no avail. The demon protector growled as he looked around.

"Damn him! How could he have escaped! Risuba will have my head for this!" Yukiso suddenly turned around, and smirked. "Or maybe not."

Li concentrated hard, using his green aura to suppress the dark aura inside of his body. 'Damn, this is taking longer than I thought. This would be easier if I had those other two traveling with me. Maybe it was a mistake to leave them behind when I left,' he thought with a look of regret and a hint of sadness on his face, but he shook it off. 'I can't think of that now! I have to finish this!'

"Concentrating hard?" a voice said from behind him. Li turned around and saw Yukiso. His eyes widened in shock, and confusion.

"How did you find me?" he asked quickly getting to his feet. The demon protector just chuckled.

"Did you really believe that I couldn't track down my own aura? You did a good job of suppressing it, but my aura could be halfway across the world, and I'd still be able to sense it. That's how high my senses are."

"Damn it!" Li muttered. 'But at least I suppressed it enough so that I'd be able to move freely.'

"Now shall we finish what we started?" Yukiso asked as he readied his axes. Li drew his sword, and went into a stance.

"Yeah, let's." With that the two leaped from their tree branches and collided.

OOOOO

Sakura stared intensely at the creature in front of her. On one side she was Risuba the dark priestess that her mother battled years ago, but on the other side she was something else. A monster perhaps, but it defiantly wasn't human. Sakura looked over to the bodies of Tomoyo and Kero, and gripped her staff tighter. It didn't matter who or what she was, she killed her friends, and she was going to pay.

With no words spoken, the two women dashed towards each other. Sakura quickly blocked a strike from the dark priestess's sword, and dodged a swing from her dark arm. Risuba fired a blast from her sword, which Sakura managed to dodge, but the minute the amber haired girl touched the ground, Risuba fired her dark needles. Sakura swiftly managed to dodge the needles, and use a windblast that blew Risuba into the barrier again.

As she rushed towards the older woman something struck her side that made her fly off to the side. When she looked at her opponent she saw something new had sprouted from her lower back. It was a long spiked tail. Risuba chuckled deeply as she made her way towards the amber haired girl. Sakura got to her feet, and fired another windblast from her staff, but Risuba slapped it away with her dark hand. A split second later a blast of darkness knocked Sakura off her feet.

Sakura quickly rolled out of the way when Risuba's tail was about to slam into her body. The pink-eyed girl slashed the woman across her stomach, only to be blown away by a powerful dark blast. When she got her feet a sharp pain suddenly enter her body, the young girl looked down and saw Risuba with her horn jabbed in the side of her stomach. Sakura knocked her away when her staff met the older woman's face. As Risuba recovered, Sakura fired a strong windblast, but the dark priestess slapped it away with her sword fired her needles with her dark arm.

Sakura quickly put up her shield to defend, but the needles somehow penetrated her shield and needles filled her body. Risuba just laughed.

"That just proves that aura is weak, while mine is only getting stronger!" Sakura groaned as she struggled to get to her feet.

"This battle isn't over yet!" she declared, but the older woman just chuckled.

"Don't even bother trying to bluff, I can feel your aura slowly slipping. I'll tell what let's finish this now with one final blast. What do you say?"

"Very well," Sakura agreed, and flared up the last of her aura, while Risuba did the same. "But I must know, who was my mother's former lover? Before she met my father?"

"Well if you must know before you die, his name was Xia Lang!"

"Xia Lang," Sakura repeated to herself.

"Now I hope you can die happy!" Risuba and fired an intense blast of darkness.

"Sorry I can't die yet!" Sakura shouted, and fired a just as intense blast of light. Fierce sparks flew as the two blasts collided with neither side gaining the upper hand at first. But then the darkness started to overcome Sakura's light. The amber haired girl started to slide back from the intensity of the darkness. Flaring up more of her aura she managed to give her blast enough power so it wouldn't be pushed back, but Risuba kept adding more and more power into the blast. It was as though she had an unlimited supply of power.

"I can feel the power of your aura depleting! It's only a matter of time!" Risuba laughed as she added more power to her blast. Sakura eyes widened when she felt her light aura slowly going back to pink. She could also feel herself going back to her young girl form. She groaned softly and flared up the very last of her aura.

"Darkness will always succumb to the light! Just as long as one remembers where the light is!" With the last of her strength, older Sakura used the last of her aura to increase the power of her blast. Risuba's eyes widened when her blast was over powered.

"No! How is this possible!" she screamed as she was engulfed in the blast. The blast of light made a large hole in the void, making the empty space slowly vanish into thin air. Sakura fell to her knees as her older form slowly vanished, and she became normal Sakura.

"Did I…. do all of this?" she asked herself as she looked around. Her eyes fell on Tomoyo and Kero, and her heart sank. "I'm sorry guys, I couldn't protect you." Her eyes went to Risuba's body.

'You got what you deserved,' Sakura thought harshly. She got to her feet, and decided to go find the Father. The least she could do was to give her friends a proper burial. She stopped when she suddenly heard a cracking sound. She turned around and saw Risuba's flesh cracking as if it was an egg. When her body was filled with cracks, an intense dark aura, in the form of smoke rose into the air. Sakura could feel nothing emptiness and evil the smoke.

"But…. what the heck is it?" she asked herself.

OOOOO

Li quickly blocked a swing from one of Yukiso's axes, and kicked the demon protector out of the trees. Yukiso threw one his axes at the young man, but Li easily avoided it, and stabbed the demon in his leg as he came down from the trees. As the demon cried out in pain, Li was about to deliver the final blow when he sensed something.

"What the hell is that?" he whispered as he stepped back. "I've never sensed anything so evil! It's as though it's made of nothing but darkness." Yukiso just laughed.

"That would be my mistress. She's tired so hard to suppress, but the monster was just too strong this time!" Li grabbed him by the throat.

"What do you mean?"

"Inside of my mistress is, rather, was a powerful monster, no not a demon, but a monster. It was slowly eating away at her heart until she died. And now that she's dead the monster has been released! There's no escape! This world is doomed to be covered in an never-ending darkness!" Li growled, and sliced off the demon's head. He then rushed to where the void used to be.

"Some how I just know that stupid girl is involved in this one way or another!" he muttered to himself as he ran.

OOOOO

Sakura hid behind a tree as the dark smoke started to take shape. First two long arms formed, along with a large chest with countless muscles, and scars. Legs sprouted from the body with long sharp talons on the foot. A long thick tail sprouted from the large body, and finally the head sprouted. Its mouth was the same shape as a dog or a horse, but its teeth were filled with fangs that could rival a shark or a crocodile. It had enough power in its claws to take down an entire valley of mountains at once. It was the biggest thing Sakura had ever seen in her life.

'Mom sealed this monster inside of someone? But I thought it was supposed to be forever! What's going on?' But Sakura was snapped out of her thoughts when the monster let out an earth-shaking roar. Fire suddenly blasted from its mouth, and the monster aimed the fire at the forest around it. Sakura was too stunned to notice the fire was heading her way.

"Stupid! Get down!" she heard a voice shout. The next thing Sakura knew, Li was on top of her with his back ablaze.

"Li!" Sakura cried, when she noticed his back.

"This is nothing, really. So just what the hell is going on?"

"I was fighting this dark priestess Risuba, and she…. And she… She killed Tomoyo and Kero!"

"What?"

"She killed them! And I was so angry, I think I must have passed out, but when I woke up Risuba was on the ground dead. But her body started to crack like an egg, and all this smoke came out. Then, that monster formed." Li got up and looked at the monster closely, his eyes suddenly widened.

"That's no monster," he whispered.

"Then what is it?" Sakura wondered as she got up.

"It's a devil!" Li exclaimed as the devil burned down another forest.

"What's the difference between a devil and a demon?"

"A demon is no where as powerful as a devil. Devils are the most powerful evil sprits in the world. No normal human can ever hope to defeat one! And that thing is one of the most power devils ever known!"

"What do you mean?" Li growled, and gripped his sword tightly.

"It doesn't matter we have to get out of here now!"

"But Li, that devil will destroy homes, kill innocent people! I don't want to see anymore people die!"

"You're going to see yourself die if we don't escape now! We don't stand a chance against that devil!" Sakura shook her head, and formed her staff out of a stick.

"I'm at least going to try. No one deserves to die at the hands of such a creature," Sakura said sternly as her pink aura started to slowly form around her. When Li looked into her eyes he couldn't help but feel optimistic, which was a big deal for him. He sighed, and gave her a slight smile.

"All right have it your way." The young man drew his sword and stood beside Sakura, who smiled at him.

"Thanks Li," she whispered.

"Let's go!" they both shouted as they rushed the devil.

AN: Can Li and Sakura stop this devil? What does Li know about it? How was it able to escape the spell Nadeshiko put on it? Who is Xia Lang? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels to find out. Oh and sorry for the delay. I just couldn't bring myself to get started. I couldn't get into this chapter or this Risuba arc until around the middle. But anyway, See ya!


	29. Darkness Attacks

Seven Deadly Jewels Chapter 29 

Sakura and Li dashed towards the newly unleashed devil, that had somehow broke free of Nadeshiko's curse. The monster managed to spot them, and attacked with a strong breath of fire. The two quickly split apart to dodge, and Li quickly whipped out one of his talismans.

"Element Lighting!" When the blast connected with its target, the devil didn't even flinch. "Damn, I should have known," Li growled. The young man quickly jumped to the side the minute he saw the devil's massive foot stomp towards him. He swiftly scaled up a tree like a squirrel and leaped towards the devil with his sword over his head ready to strike. The creature of darkness easily blocked Li's sword with his thick wrist, and swatted the young man to the ground like a fly.

Sakura, seconds later leaped out from the trees, and tried to attack the monster from behind, but she was slapped down by the devil's tail with ease. Branches snapped against her body and the wind blew past her as she fell. The young girl squeezed her eyes shut and readied herself for a fall that would easily break every bone in her body.

"Element Wind!" A soft bed of wind suddenly formed below her and gently floated her to the ground.

"Thanks Li," she said. Li just grunted and went for another attack on the monster with Sakura not too far behind. The devil swung its massive tail towards the two attackers, destroying countless trees in the process. Li grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her to the ground as the tail passed over them. Seconds later, fire blasted towards them at a rapid speed. The chestnut haired boy quickly put up a shield around them. Li smirked when he felt the powerful fire attack collide with his shield.

"Now try this! Wind Reflection!" The wind blew the fire attack back at its sender, who simply dodged. The devil slammed down its immense hand towards the two, who managed to dodge. Li quickly jumped on the dark hand, and started to run up it. The devil spotted him and slammed his other hand towards him, but Li jumped back, and leaped on the other arm. The devil fired a breath of fire, but Li jumped again, and stabbed the devil in the middle of its eye.

"Nice one!" Sakura cheered when she heard the monster howl in pain. The creature of darkness thrashed its head from side to side trying to get the amber-eyed swordsman off. Li started to push his sword even deeper, as his reward, he heard the devil's howls grow louder. The monster suddenly grabbed Li, and started to squeeze him like a doll.

"That…was a cheep shot," the devil growled.

"So, you can talk. And here I thought you were all brawn and no brain." This only made the monster squeeze him harder.

"You know your bones are like twigs to me. I could snap your arms in two with just my index finger and thumb. In fact, I think I will. To pay you back for my eye!" The devil gripped Li's right arm with his two fingers, and started to laugh as he started to squeeze. Li cried out in pain as he felt his bones slowly break, he had never felt so weak and vulnerable in his life. But before the monster could completely snap his arm, a windblast to his face made him drop the young man.

"Element Wind!" Li quickly chanted, and a bed of wind saved him from breaking more bones.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked.

"I'll live," Li replied simply. "He didn't completely snap it, but he still broke it. Sakura nodded, and turned to the monster.

"Hey! I have a few questions for you!" she shouted.

"Moron! Now isn't the time," Li scolded.

"Li there are some things that I have to know, and he's the only person who knows the answers," Sakura replied calmly and turned back to the monster. "Who are you? And how were you able to escape my mother's curse?" The devil laughed as he listened to her.

"And just why should I answer these stupid questions? But if will put your minds to rest before you die then fine. Humans call me Lucious, and I once walked this Earth nearly four hundred years ago."

"I thought it was you," Li said.

"You know him?" Sakura asked.

"I've just heard stories. He was one of most powerful devils four hundred years ago. Probably still is. They say his power was so great he was able to destroy two whole kingdoms with just one blast. And some people say he's the reason why this land is so broken up, because of the earthquakes he causes every time he walks. But one day a man named Clow Reed challenged him and after three full days he managed to seal him, away into hell."

"Wow, Clow Reed must have been powerful then." Li nodded.

'But there's still one thing I just don't understand. If he was powerful enough to defeat a devil of this power then how could he be killed by one demon? It just doesn't make any sense. It couldn't have been old age. Someone of his power, would still be strong enough to defeat one demon even in old age. So who, or what killed such a powerful person?'

"How were you able to escape my mother's curse on you and Risuba? It was supposed to last forever!" Lucious just laughed again.

"Your mother messed up big time the minute she started to cast that curse!"

"What do you mean?" Sakura wondered.

"When she started to conjure up that curse she was already too weak and tired to even think straight. The minute she summoned the demon plain, she just picked the first demon she sensed, which was a big mistake on her part."

"She sounds just as clumsy as you," Li scoffed.

"Hey!" Lucious suddenly laughed, which caused the two to focus their attention back to him.

"I remember thinking that I was to be forever bound to a foolish weak human woman. But the minute I entered her body I could feel power flowing into me. This woman had willingly given her body and soul to the darkness! I've never felt so much dark aura inside of one person in my entire life! So I stayed, slowly devouring the darkness in her heart, and every year I grew stronger. This continued until I finally had the strength to break free of Nadeshiko's curse."

"But there's something I still don't understand. Why was Risuba's body like clay?" Sakura asked.

"Foolish girl! Risuba is dead!"

"What do you mean by dead? She was alive just a couple minutes ago!"

"It's hard to believe that you are Nadeshiko's daughter. So naïve."

"Answer me you monster!"

"When I started to devour the darkness in her heart I ate a part of her soul!" Lucious said simply. Sakura's eyes widened. "With every passing year I devoured both her dark aura and her soul, until she was nothing but an empty shell."

"So why not make your escape then? If your holder was dead, and you had more than enough power to escape why didn't you right then and there?" Li wondered.

"There was no need to revel my true power. I used Risuba's body as both a human form and a vessel for my true power and form. I destroyed so many villages in that form that my devil form wasn't even necessary. But now I have enough power to make a human form on my own. In fact I won't even waste my devil form on you two," Lucious said, and started to shrink.

"Be on your guard," Li advised Sakura. "He maybe going to a human form, but he's still just as dangerous and powerful. Got it?"

"Yeah I got it," Sakura nodded, and they waited for Lucious to make his grand entrance in his human form. The trees rustled, and the two immediately got ready for whatever was coming. The bushes gave way and reveled a man that looked to be in his twenties with short jet-black hair, and red eyes. He wore a dark black gi, which made it harder for Li and Sakura to spot him in the darkness. Light black armor, similar to a samurai's was draped over the dark gi with a sword on his side. In his hands was a long staff with a long and thick blade attached.

"Are you ready?" he asked with a smirk as he went in a ready position with his weapon. Li and Sakura replied by dashing towards Lucious with their weapons ready to strike. The devil smirked, and raised his weapon. As the two came closer, Lucious swung his weapon unleashing a powerful wave of dark aura that tore apart the ground as it blasted towards its two targets. In seconds Li, and Sakura were blasted back by the powerful attack. Lucious chuckled as he watched them fly through the air, and crash into a group of trees.

Li groaned as he slowly got to his feet, he had never been on the receiving end of such a powerful attack in his life. He looked at the chuckling Lucious, and his eyes widened at the damage it caused the forest. Nothing was left of the trees that were in the attack's path not even so much as a branch. The powerful attack left a long a deep crater as well. Smoke still rose from it, and Li could still feel the dark aura coming from it. It shocked him that he and Sakura were still alive when everything else in the attack's path was destroyed. He turned to Sakura who was only now waking up.

"Man, what an attack," she said as she held her head. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"What are we supposed to do? If we try a frontal attack he'll just use that attack on us again."

"You know," a cold voice from behind them began. "It's bad form to leave your opponent waiting." Li and Sakura spun with their weapons ready only to see that their opponent was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Up here!" When the two looked up they saw Lucious in the air with his weapon over his head as he came down. Li and Sakura quickly leaped to the sides, but when the devil slammed his weapon on the ground two waves shot out, and collided with the two fighters. Li quickly got to his feet, and whipped out two talismans.

"Elements Water, and Lighting combine into one!" A blast of water with lighting circling around fired towards Lucious who just slapped it away with his weapon.

"Pathetic," he chuckled, and countered with a wave of darkness that sent Li flying back. Sakura got to her feet and attacked the devil from behind with a strong downward strike. But just as her attack was about to connect, Lucious spun around and blew her away with a wave of darkness as well.

"Force, know my plight, release the light! Lighting!" Li chanted, and in seconds a powerful bolt of lighting struck the devil, but Lucious just chuckled.

"That tickled!" he laughed and swung his blade, unleashing the powerful attack. The chestnut haired boy quickly jumped to the side, barely dodging the attack, but in seconds Lucious was behind him. The second he turned around, the devil threw a powerful round kick that broke even more of Li's ribs. Lucious chuckled as he stood over the young man, who was now on his hands and knees clutching his ribs.

"Damn it," he growled.

"Time to finish off one," the devil smirked as he raised his weapon.

"Watery attack!" Sakura shouted, and blast of powerful water knocked the devil into a group of dense trees. But before Sakura could say a word, the trees were blown away, and Lucious jumped out with a smirk on his face.

"I must admit, you did catch me off guard, but that won't happen again."

"Li, just what can we do to beat this guy?" Sakura wondered.

"Nothing. I told you he's too powerful for us to handle. It took Clow Reed three whole days just to seal this guy away. We don't stand a chance."

"But…"

"No buts! What's important now is that we escape and come up with some plan to reseal him. You got it?"

"No Li! There has to be something we can do! If we leave him he'll just go on to kill more people just like he did four hundred years ago! We have to stop him now!"

"Don't be stupid! We don't stand a chance! We tried it your way and got our asses kicked. Now we're doing it my way! And my way is, we run!" Sakura shook her head and walked passed him with her weapon ready.

"Sorry Li, but I can't stand seeing people suffer or die. It's just no in me to leave things like this. Even if it costs me my life I will protect other people." Li's eyes widened at her words and remember something from two years ago.

"_Syaoran even if it costs me my life I will protect my clan, and my people from this kingdom. People don't deserve the fate they're giving them. So matter what happens, I want them to be happy." _

"Shu Ling," Li whispered, and sighed. "Fine do what you want."

"Do you really mean it?"

"Yeah whatever," he grumbled.

"Are you quite done arguing amongst yourselves? Because if you are, I'd like to finish this battle," Lucious said as he went into a stance. Suddenly an arrow shot out from nowhere, and was imbedded in the devil's chest, making him stumble back. Sakura and Li turned around and saw Tsukido standing behind them with her arrow ready.

"Need some help?" she asked.

"Of course we do!" Sakura exclaimed happily.

"All right, lets get this over with!" Li order, and the three dashed towards the devil.

AN: I am sooooo sorry for this short chapter! It's just that my family is going on vacation really soon, and wanted to get this chapter out before I left because we won't be back until August. But since I really don't have any time left I decided to make this one short and finish this arc when I get back. So anyway can Li, Sakura, and Tsukido stop Lucious? What kind of demon killed Clow Reed? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels to find out. See ya in three weeks!


	30. The Vanish of Darkness

Seven Deadly Jewels 

Chapter 30

The air was cold, and the sky was clear. The stars shone brightly above the dense green forest. At first glance it looked like a normal quiet forest, but a split second later, a group was trees was reduced to nothing but dust. Several more loud explosions followed accompanied by air piercing slashes. Below the quiet and serenity of the sky, a fierce battle raged between three strong humans, and a four hundred year old devil in human form. The three humans, despite their power were no match for the newly awakened devil.

Li dashed towards Lucious, and attacked with a strong downward strike, but the black haired devil easily sidestepped the attack, and knocked Li into a tree with a swift kick. Sakura came up from behind, but Lucious smirked, and elbowed her stomach, making the young hunch forward. The minute she did, she was sent into the air by a swift uppercut. Two spiritually charged arrows shot towards the monster, but Lucious knocked them away with a swing of his giant weapon. Tsukido quickly jumped back to load up another arrow when a powerful blast blew her into a group of trees.

"Is this all you got?" the devil as he approached the reforming team. Li growled as he went into a ready position. Sakura clutched her weapon tightly, while Tsukido just shot a glare at the monster.

"When I count to three, we all split up and attack him on all sides, got it?" Li whispered to the girls, who nodded.

"So are you going to attack or just stand there?" Lucious asked with a smirk.

"One, two, three!" the chestnut haired boy shouted. In an instant the small group dashed off in different directions, but this didn't faze or confuse the four hundred year old monster.

"Come at me however you like, but not matter what you do, your fates are sealed!"

"I was never one to believe in that fate shit!" Li exclaimed as he came down from the air. Lucious jumped back to avoid his downward attack only to step into the path of two arrows. One he dodged completely, but the other was impaired in his shoulder. Lucious growled, and fell to a knee. In an instant the devil was blown into the air by a powerful gust of wind. Seeing their chance, Li leaped above him and gave him a deep slash in his chest. As he fell to the ground Tsukido fire two more arrows that impaired themselves in his right leg, and left arm. The monster yelled out in pain as he felt the spiritual energy enter his body.

"Sakura attack now! While he's weakened!" Tsukido shouted to the young girl.

"Right!" she nodded, and blew the devil away with a strong a windblast that sent him flying deeper into the forest.

"Now come on!" Li shouted as he started to run in the opposite direction.

"What why?" Sakura wondered.

"That blast of yours only slowed him down! He'll be back I know it. Our best bet is to get out of the open so we can come up with some kind of strategy. Now come on!" Sakura simply nodded and started to follow him, with Tsukido close behind. Meanwhile deeper in the forest, the rubble that covered Lucious was blown away by a powerful blast of dark energy.

"So they escaped," he mumbled. "No matter, that just makes it even more fun." The devil chuckled as he started to walk in search of his opponents.

The small group managed to find cover behind a series of dense bushes that was a good amount of distance from their original position.

"So how do we beat that monster?" Sakura asked, but Li stayed silent, and just started to draw in the ground with his sword.

"I'm not sure, he is after all a four hundred year old devil," Tsukido replied as she began to count how may arrows she had left. "Only 12 left."

"But he was beaten before right? So it's not like he's invincible or anything. We just need to find a weak point."

"Easier said than done I'm afraid." Sakura sighed and started to draw in the dirt.

'How can I bring down that bastard devil?' Li asked himself as he looked at the mini diagram of the battle he drew in the dirt. 'If we try a frontal assault he'll just use that attack again, and completely wipe us out. Damn it! And he'll be expecting an attack from all sides too. Damn it!'

'Li's in such a bad mood,' Sakura thought as she watched him. 'He must be trying to find a way to beat Lucious. But we wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for me. Why did I even think that we could win?' the young girl asked herself. 'Maybe it was because we've been in so many battles already, and I was confident in our abilities, maybe a little too confident. And now because that we're in this mess.'

'Shit! I'm running out of options. So far the only attack I haven't used yet it Raijou, and I'm not even sure how effective that'll be. But then, there's always….' Li's mind started to wander as he start to feel the necklace underneath his robes. 'No! That shouldn't even be an option! Damn it, the only person I can think of that can beat this guy is probably half way across the world by now! That bastard, he shows up when I don't need him, and when I do need him, he's no where to be found!' Li slammed his fist into the ground, with a fierce growl.

"Uh…Li…" Sakura said timidly.

"What," the amber-eyed fighter asked coldly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got us into this mess. I guess I was overly confident in our abilities because of all the demons we've beaten before. And because that I thought that Lucious would be piece of cake, I saw him as just another demon, but now I know I was dead wrong. I'm sorry." When Li didn't say anything Sakura just sighed.

"There's nothing wrong with being confident in your powers or what you can do. But at the same time you have to be aware of the powers of others, and your own limitations. No matter how hard you train or the amount of demons you've defeated, there will always be someone stronger. Never forget that." Sakura nodded with a smile.

"Right."

"So, do you have any ideas how to beat that monster?" Tsukido asked.

"No. It's not looking good. It's not looking good at all. He's just too strong. I'm not even sure he even has a weakness."

"So what do we do?" Sakura wondered. Li shrugged, and started to rethink the entire battle from before. As the young man thought the wind suddenly became ice cold, which made both he and Tsukido tense.

"You feel it," he whispered to the young priestess who nodded. Sakura looked to both of them with no clue of what they were talking about.

"What's going on?" she wondered.

"He's here," Li answered simply as he reached for his sword.

"But, how did he find us so fast? I mean I blasted him pretty far from us."

"I'm not sure either, but looks like we'll find out eventually," the amber haired boy said and stood up.

"So, did you figure out a way to defeat him" Tsukido asked as he loaded her bow. Li shook his head.

"No. But I always do my best under pressure."

"You had to of come up with something," Sakura said.

"The only thing I could of was Tsukido's spiritual energy. It seems to hurt him, but I can't incorporate it in any type of strategy to bring him down."

"So basically, we're winging it?" Tsukido wondered.

"Pretty much." The priestess just smirked.

"Fine with me," she replied. In an instant the air only became colder, just standing made Sakura feel like she was back on the mountain where they fought the Drazzil. She could feel her fingers slowly numb. When the wind hit her face it felt as though the fierce cold air was whipping it.

"By now he should be a couple feet away. When he's close enough I'll attack first, then…." But Li was cut off by a cold cool voice behind them.

"You'll do what?" The three fighters froze just as Lucuious swung his massive weapon at their necks. Li growled, and pushed the girls to the ground.

"Get down you morons!" he shouted as they went down, just dodging the attack. In a flash Li drew his sword and attack with a fierce 360-spin attack, but Lucious jumped back in time to avoid it. But the second his feet touched the rocky dirt, three arrows whizzed in his direction accompanied by a visible blast of wind.

"You'll have to do better than that," the devil chuckled and knocked the attacks away with his massive weapon. "Now for my favorite attack." Lucious raised his weapon ready to unleash the attack that decimated a fraction of the dense forest.

"No you don't!" Li exclaimed as he dashed towards the devil. 'If I attack him with an aerial attack in mid swing that'll stop this attack, and he'll be in a vulnerable position. Hopefully, those stupid girls will see their chance.' The chestnut haired fighter leapt into the air ready to proceed with his attack when Lucious smirked.

"You'll have to do better than that!" he said and redirected his attack upwards. Needless to say Li was caught off guard, and took the full blast of the attack. The young man hit the ground with a hard thud, and let out a loud groan as he got to his feet.

"You shouldn't be moving, that was a bad fall," Sakura warned, but Li just brushed her off.

"I'm fine," he growled as he glared at the devil.

"That all you got?" Lucious asked with a chuckle. In an instant Tsukido fired three arrows covered in her purple aura, but the devil leaped into the air to dodge. Sakura attacked with a fierce windblast with a bolt of lighting from Li behind it. Lucious chuckled and fired a dark blast that cancelled out both attacks with ease. The monster came down, and slammed his weapon on the ground, releasing a powerful wave of darkness that tore through the ground.

"Get out the way, fast!" Li ordered. Without a second thought the small group jumped to the side narrowly avoid the wide attack, but when they turned to face their opponent he was gone.

"Where did he go?" Sakura wondered as she looked around the area. Suddenly a black fog drifted into the forest making visibility worse than it already was.

"Be on your guard he could be anywhere," Li warned. Sakura and Tsukido scanned the forest for the devil, but it seemed that he had disappeared into the thin air.

"Where's is he? I can't even pick up his aura. It's like he was never here," Tsukido grumbled in frustration. Suddenly Lucious' cold voice echoed through the air, and sent ice-cold shivers down their spines.

"Can't see me? Can't sense me? That's good. This way it will make this fight more fun."

"Show yourself you bastard!" Li shouted in the black fog.

"This fog must be concealing his aura somehow," Tsukido concluded.

"Shit! That means he can attack at any second. We're sitting ducks like this," the young man growled. Lucious chuckled.

"You're quite right. And there are so many vital areas I can hit you too, the heart, the stomach, the vertebrae, and the skull. Or maybe I should break all your bones to make my own musical chord!" Sakura trembled as she felt the pure wickedness, malice in his voice.

"Hey, calm down. If your afraid it makes you an easier target," Li said to her. Sakura simply nodded, obviously still scared. The dark fog lingered in the air like dried blood with a cold chuckle echoing through the silence. "Damn it! Where is that bastard!" Tsukido looked through the fog, and saw a lone figure slowly approaching them. Without second thought she grabbed one of her arrows and loaded it.

"There he is!" she exclaimed and fired. Li quickly accompanied her with a lighting spell, but the figure disappeared just as quickly as it came. "Now where is he?"

"This guy is really starting to annoy me," Li mumbled as he looked around for the devil. Sakura tried to see through the fog but it was too thick and dark for her to see anything. The young girl suddenly felt something below her feet, but when she looked down there was nothing there. She was about to go back to searching for Lucious when she felt an intense aura behind her. Sakura froze, and her heartbeat increased ten folds. The amber haired girl slowly and gingerly turned around in time to see a sliver blur racing towards her neck. But the young girl was too frightened and scared to make a move.

"Here's one down," Lucious laughed as the blur came dangerously closer to her. Sakura suddenly snapped out of her rush of fear when a loud CLANG reached her ears. In front of her was Li with his sword against Lucious' weapon struggling to hold it back.

"You really are a moron aren't you!" he scolded as he struggled to keep his footing against the massive weight of the weapon. "Now stand back!" Electric charges started to circle around his body and then his sword. With a loud yell Li pushed Lucious back.

"Well isn't this interesting," the devil chuckled. "Such a demonstration of strength. Unfortunately it won't be enough to stop me!" With those words Lucious dashed towards the amber-eyed fighter with at side ready to slice the young man in two.

"Actually I think it'll be quite enough!" Li shouted and rushed towards the devil. The two fighters let out loud yells as they swung their weapons with all their might behind them. But at the last second Li pulled his sword back and leapt in the air as the massive weapon passed over him. Lucious just chuckled.

"Lost your nerve I see." But this time it was Li's turn to chuckle.

"Actually I was just getting a better position!" With those words Li brought down his sword upon the massive weapon, slicing the blade in half as he came down. There was a loud THUD as the blade hit the ground, and Lucious stepped back.

"How…" Li just smirked.

"I'm so stupid not figuring this out before. Huge weapons like that may be powerful but their modes of attack and speed are severely lacking. You can only attack across or down. Not only that but also that weapon is so heavy that it hard to make an attack straight after a past one. So after you make one attack, it may only be for a few seconds, but you and your weapon is vulnerable."

"So why go for my weapon? Why not go for me?" the devil wondered.

"Because half of your power was in that blade. I can feel you aura ooze out of that sword like blood. When you went into this human form you put a majority of your aura in that blade. That's why your attacks were so strong. And that's why you were always hiding aura so we wouldn't figure it out." Lucious growled and stepped back. "Once I figured that out all I had to do was summon Raijou and slice it. And now without your weapon you're about as strong as I am now. And that's just perfect."

"How did you figure all this out?"

"When I sensed you behind that stupid girl." Sakura and Tsukido's eyes widened.

'He figure out all of this in that one instant? What kind of person is he?' the priestess thought.

'Lucious was only behind for maybe about six or seven seconds. Li figured out his weapon's weakness and the weakness in his aura. It's obvious that he isn't a normal human being.'

"So how about you quit hiding behind your weapon, and this stupid fog, and fight for real?" Lucious drew his sword and went into a stance.

"That's find with me human! No more playing around, this is for real!"

"Fine with me." The two raced towards each other again with their swords over their heads, ready to cut down the other. Li quickly ducked under a fierce slash towards his neck, and gave the devil a swift knee to his stomach. Lucious grunted, but managed to get in a fast uppercut that made Li step back. The chestnut haired young man blocked a side slash, and countered with a fast thrust. Lucious quickly parried and connected his fist with Li's left cheek, knocked him to the ground. Li rolled out of the path of a downward attack, and brought the devil to the ground with a sudden leg sweep.

The second they got back to their feet, the two swords collided with each other again. Li pushed Lucious' sword to the side, and gave the devil a strong round kick to his ribs, breaking at least two. Lucious growled in pain, and pushed Li with a wave of dark energy.

"Now try this!" Lucious exclaimed as Li was still trying to recover from the last attack. The devil swung his sword against the ground releasing a strong wave of dark energy. Li growled and pulled out of his talismans.

"Element Wind!" a clear shield of wind quickly formed shielding the young man from the attack. The minute the attack faded, Li leapt from his shield and attacked with a swift downward attack. Lucious leapt into the air and their swords met in mid-air. As they past each other Li pulled out another one of his talismans while Lucious charged up an attack in his swords.

"Take this! Dark Fire!"

"Element Water!" Smoke rose into the air when both attacks collided. Lucious smirked as the smoke covered him.

"Let's see if he can find me," he muttered to himself. As Sakura looked on she suddenly saw something inside of Lucious' body. It looked like some kind of man in a cloak with the hood covering his head. But before she could analyze it further Lucious disappeared within the smoke.

"What was that?" she asked herself.

"What is it?" Tsukido asked.

"I thought I saw someone in Lucious' body," Sakura replied.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself, but I have seen this before with a demon woman named Situra. She had some kind wood sprit in her body and it made her stronger. I think that's what Lucious has, and I think that's how he's able to disappear like that," the younger girl explained.

"Well it's an interesting theory, but we don't have anyway of proving it," the priestess said.

"Damn it, where are you?" Li growled as he looked around for the devil. A fierce yell from above the young man all he needed to know. Li looked up just in time to block a downward that would have easily cut him in half. The chestnut haired fighter pushed the devil back, and attacked with an upwards thrust only to have it parried. Lucious twisted his body and gave Li a swift boot to his face, knocking him back. The young man jumped back to his feet, and quickly ducked under a slash to his neck. Li then rushed in with a fierce quick thrust that would have finished the fight, but Lucious suddenly melted into the ground.

"Where did he go this time?" Sakura wondered. But her question was answered in seconds when Lucious reappeared behind her and Tsukido with his sword inches away from their necks.

"I should have known you'd do something like this," Li growled. The devil just laughed.

"If you take one more step I'll kill them! Don't think that I won't!" he placed his sword closer to their necks as emphasis, but Li just scoffed.

"I know, which is why I'm not going to take any steps." This got him shocked expressions from all three of them. The young man sheathed his sword, and sat crossed legged with his hands in his sleeves.

"So, you're just going to stand there and watch as I kill them?" Lucious exclaimed more confused than shocked.

"Yep. No skin off my nose," Li replied and turned his head away.

"Li you can't be serious!" Sakura shouted.

"Coward!" the priestess grumbled. Lucious just laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"It seems your friend doesn't care about you at all! Do you have any last words to say to your friends?" Li smirked.

"Yeah, on!" Lucious was about to raise an eyebrow when suddenly two blasts of powerful electricity entered his body at once. The devil let out an earth-shattering yell in agony, and released Sakura and Tsukido from his grasp as he fell to his knees.

"Li, what was that?" Sakura wondered.

"Timed Lighting Talisman," the young man replied.

"Timed what?" the younger girl asked.

"I place it on my opponent and the magic doesn't activate until I say. It's the perfect trap."

"So that's why you acted as if you didn't care about us. To catch Lucious off guard so he wouldn't suspect anything," Sakura exclaimed in realization.

"Who said I was acting," Li scoffed as he walked over to the kneeling devil.

"What! Li!" But the fighter shrugged her off.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen. Must be humiliating, being brought to your knees by a lowly human like me," Li chuckled.

"You bastard!" Lucuious screamed as dark aura started to surround him. "YOU MIGHT HAVE DEFEATED ME IN MY HUMAN FORM, BUT LET'S SEE YOU WIN IN MY TRUE DEVIL FORM!" But Li seemed unconcerned as Lucious started grow in size, and the power of his aura rising. He quickly turned to Tsukido and Sakura.

"You!" he exclaimed to Tsukido. "Fire your arrow with plenty of spiritual aura behind it!" Then he turned to Sakura. "Summon that water sprit now, and tell it to go inside her arrow, hurry!" The two girls nodded, but not convinced of the purpose.

"What will as this do?" Tsukido asked as she loaded her arrow.

"Just do as I say and you'll see!" Li barked as his hands started to be surrounded by electrical charges. "Aim for his heart, hurry before he's finished transforming!" The priestess nodded, and let loose her arrow. By now Lucious was more than half way transformed. His horns were slowly sprouting from his head, and his long jaw was filled with his fangs. His massive chest was breaking away from his samurai armor, and his right arm was fully transformed.

"Now Watery I summon you! Go inside of Tsukido's arrow!" The fierce water sprit blasted out of its card and joined together with the arrow surrounded with a purple light.

"Now Raijou raise! Join the water sprit in the arrow!" Li let loose the powerful lighting in his hands and it took the shape of a fierce tiger that dissolved into the arrow. But the devil just laughed.

"Do you really think that such a small arrow will harm me! I'll just slap it away!" Li growled and made a fist.

"Damn, if this doesn't work nothing will!" Sakura looked down she felt so helpless. What ever Li planned he must have been sure it would work, but if it didn't they'd all be doomed. She wanted to do something more to help, but what? She reached into her pocket and took out the wood card.

'That's it!' she exclaimed in her mind. 'This card has to have some kind of power here!' The amber haired girl raised said card in the air.

"Now Wood! Use your vines and branches to hold down our foe!" she cried. Instantly the gentle sprit rose from the card and made it's way to Lucious as he was about to slap away the arrow. Suddenly vines wrapped around his arms, and the rest of his body until he couldn't move.

"What! What is this!" But before he could struggle the arrow hit its mark and at first nothing happened. "HA! That was your ace in the hole! That was how you would defeat me! HAHAHA! What a joke!"

"What was that supposed to do!" Tsukido shouted at Li who stayed calm.

"Just give it time," he said simply. The devil broke free of the vine restraints and started to stomp over to the small group.

"You aren't even going to try to run? HA! This is prefect you're just standing there like helpless sheep now which one of you will die first! I'll even let you pick!" Lucious laughed as he raised his arm.

"Li come on we have to run!" Sakura exclaimed, but the young man didn't move an inch. He just simply put his hands in his sleeves, and closed his eyes.

"Now DIE!" The massive hand of the devil was inches away from the small group when he suddenly froze. His body started to pulse, and a small light started to form in his chest. It started to grow and grow until it pierced his body. The monster cried out as the light burst through other parts of his body. His chest started to expand like a balloon with a yellow light combined with a purple pierced through him.

"Just as I thought," Li smirked.

"What do you mean just as you thought?" Sakura wondered.

"Yes, please explain," Tsukido said.

"His body can't take spiritual energy remember? A being made of pure darkness can't stand the touch of something pure. So if the spiritual energy is strong enough it can destroy his sprit. And before you I ask, I mixed the water sprit with Raijou to destroy his body. So we've destroyed his body and his sprit all at once," Li explained. Lucious' yells cut through the air as his body continued to expand until it could take no more. In seconds the devil exploded into nothing but pieces, but those pieces soon dissolved into nothing but black smoke rising into the air. Then out of the smoke came a dark sprit that looked like a man in a cloak and hood. It flew in front of Sakura and shrank down to the form of a card.

"The Shadow," she read. "He's gone. He's really gone! We did it!"

"It's over," the priestess sighed, and sat down under a tree. Then something hit Sakura like a ton of bricks.

"But not without casualties," she said sadly.

"Hold on, show me where they are." Sakura nodded, and in no time they were standing over the still bodies of Tomoyo and Kero. Li searched for a pulse on both of them, and Sakura turned away.

"What are you doing? They're dead." After a while Li stood up, and put his hands in his sleeves.

"You moron. They aren't dead," he said as if it was obvious.

"What? But they weren't breathing!"

"Are you blind? Of course they were breathing, just very slowly. When those dark needles hit them they were put into a special kind of sleep one that could make someone believe that they are really dead. Get it?"

"So why aren't they waking up?" Sakura wondered.

"You just need to remove the needles you idiot!"

"Really?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"Yes really!" Without a second thought Sakura removed the needles from her two friends and in no time at all Tomoyo and Kero were awake.

"Sakura…is that you?" Tomoyo asked. The young girl just smiled brightly.

"Yeah Tomoyo-chan, it's me." Kero groaned as he started to fly up in the air.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"Oh nothing too important," Sakura replied as she watched the sunrise. "I have a feeling that today is going to be a great day!"

"Yeah, me too," Tomoyo agreed, and stood up.

"If this little sappy reunion is over, let's get going before they blame us for this collateral damage!" But before Li could start walking he turned to face Sakura and reached into his cloak.

"Wh…what is it?" she asked feeling slightly uncomfortable under his stone hard expression.

"Here….Sakura," he said slowly, and gave handed her mother's necklace to her. Amber haired girl was shocked and confused for two reasons, one Li had just said her name, willingly! And two he just gave her back her mom's necklace.

"Did….you just call me…Sakura?" she asked.

"That's your name isn't it?"

"Well yeah, but…" Before she could say anything else Li turned around and started walking.

"Now let's go we have a lot of ground to cover to make up for lost time. Now come on."

"You sure that was Li?" Tomoyo asked her friend, who nodded.

"At least I think so…."

"Are you two morons coming or am I going have to leave you here!" the young man shouted.

"Yep that's him," the girls said at once, and started walking. As she walked Sakura stared at her necklace, and thought about the way Li said her name. He said it with a kind of fire and edge that not even her brother could muster. But at the same time with a hint of gentleness and compassion that she never thought he had. It was as though her name was both beautiful and deadly at the same time.

She looked at the necklace then at Li. Sakura just smiled and started to follow the rest of the group. Yep, today was going to be a great day.

AN: MAN! Thank god that arc is over! I never intended for this to become a 5-chapter arc but it just happened that way! I'm probably never going to do that again, well unless it's something really important for the plotline or the characters. I might just do standalone chapters for a while to give you guys a chance to recover from that long arc. Oh and don't get any ideas about Li and Sakura relationship. It took him 30 chapters just to her name! So seriously don't get hopes up to happen romance-wise next chapter. Anyway, I'm going to start adding previews so you guys will at least have some ideas what the next chapter will be like. And they'll be in anime-style, which means one, or more of the characters will be announcing it. So without further ado here's the preview for chapter 31!

_Sakura: Next time we run into trouble. Financial trouble._

_Tomoyo: We can't even afford to buy water! Then this guy who runs a hotel shows up and asks us to exercise a ghost for him. _

_Sakura: HOEEEEE! Ghosts! I hate ghosts!_

_Tomoyo: But when the time comes his brother shows up and tells us not too. What's the connection between these two? And why is this ghost haunting the brother's hotel? You'll just have to find out in "The Haunting Maiden" next time on Seven Deadly Jewels. _

_Sakura: Tomoyo do we have to take this job? _

_Tomoyo: It'll be okay Sakura-chan_


	31. The Haunting Maiden part 1

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 31

AN: Before the next chapter starts just a quick little note. I got a couple of reviews asking how long this fic will be, and my answer is…. I have absolutely no idea! When I start a fic I never say to myself how many chapters it'll have because I feel like I would involuntarily put myself in a tight box if you know what I mean. If I say how many chapters will be in a fic I feel like I'm limiting myself in what I can put in it, but that's just me. I can say this though; this is going to be one long fic. 31+ chapters and believe it or not I still haven't even scratched the surface of this fanfiction. I haven't introduced all the key villains or allies yet, but that'll come in later chapters. So once again, I truly have no exact idea how long this fic will be. But if I had to guess maybe around 80 or if I really push it 90, but that's just a guess. So anyway without further ado, here's chapter 31!

It was a clear hot day, with the sun out, and thin clouds passing overhead with the occasional thick one providing cloud cover. It was just as Sakura said; it was going to be a great day. But unlike the calm atmosphere, the small group was anywhere but calm.

"I'm hungry," Kero whined.

"Shut up," Li barked tiredly.

"Well we haven't had anything decent to eat in a while," Tomoyo said.

"Yeah I would kill for some a big fat piece of Koi with some rice, and miso soup…." Sakura trailed off with the corner of her mouth drooling at the thought of such a delicious meal.

"Stop it Sakura! You're only making it worse!" Tomoyo exclaimed with a laugh. The small group trudged slowly along a dirt path that was obviously made for travelers and their horses.

"You would think after that feast the Father gave us in Tsukido's village would hold us over, but I think I burned it all off in the fight with Lucious," the amber haired girl groaned.

"Aw man, I'm willing to eat the first thing that looks editable," Kero moaned. Then his black eyes laid eyes on Li's finger. When the young man felt the beast's eyes on him, he turned around and slammed him into the ground with his fist.

"Don't even think about it!" When Li looked back at the road he spotted in the distance the outline of a major town. "Well there's a city up ahead, we can rest there and buy some supplies."

"Well funny story about that…." Tomoyo trailed off with a nervous chuckle.

"About what?" Li asked already getting in a foul mood.

"Well, the thing is…." The raven-haired girl started. "We're…. out of…. money…. hehe…." Li's right eye twitched along with the rest of his body as his said his next set of words.

"How…. long…" he asked slowly with his teeth grinning together as if he was ready to bite the poor girl. Tomoyo hesitated before answering.

"Uh…. ever since the…. Cli incident…we never got paid remember?" Li started fuming, his entire face seemed to red by now, and it was accompanied by small electrical charges appearing around him.

"How much…do we have…now?"

"About five gold," Sakura perked in. That did it.

"YOU ABSOLUTE MORONS! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE!" he bellowed with all his might.

"Well to avoid this reaction obviously," Tomoyo replied with a nervous chuckle.

"I SHOULD KILL ALL THREE OF YOU RIGHT NOW!"

"Hey!" Kero shouted. "What did I do?"

"YOU'RE JUST BEING YOU!"

"Li, calm down," Sakura chuckled nervously trying to calm down the enraged teenager. "I'm sure five gold will be more than enough to at least find a hotel to stay at."

"You had better be right," Li growled calming down slightly. "Heaven help you if you're wrong." Sakura just smiled at him.

"If I'm wrong you can cut off one my fingers."

OOOOO

"No!"

"No!"

"No!"

"No!" They had been hearing that exact same response ever since they first started to look for a hotel to stay in. The hotel prices were far higher than anything Sakura would have expected. For most hotels it was 50 gold to stay for the night, and that wasn't including the price for food.

"So which one of your fingers should I cut off?" Li asked Sakura with his sword ready.

"Li quit kidding around," Tomoyo said.

"Who's kidding around," Li replied.

"All right! Can we at least try to find some food! I'm freaking starving to death over here!" Kero shouted.

"Yeah, food can't be as expensive as a hotel," Tomoyo agreed.

"Excuse me," Sakura said to a bread vendor. "How much bread can we get for five gold?" The vendor looked at the money on the table, and went into the back of the store. He returned with the smallest piece of bread the group had ever seen.

"You want to pay for it up front?" the vendor asked with a small mock smile. It took all of Li's strength not to kill the man right then and there.

"No," Sakura replied. "Thanks anyway." It was high noon and the small group was still starving to death. They were sitting in the middle of an alleyway, watching as people walked by.

"I'm hungry," Kero cried pathetically

"Shut up," Li half shouted half groaned.

"What kind of place is this?" Tomoyo exclaimed. "What kind of town sells bread for thirty gold a piece? What kind of normal person has that kind of money!"

"Rich bastards that's who," Li answered.

"We can't even buy water," Sakura added in.

"We could always pack it up, and head for the next town. Or go back to Tsukido's village," Tomoyo suggested.

"Next town could be days or weeks away, and I doubt we have the strength to make it now. And besides it took us three whole days to get here from that priestess's village. It could take another three days to get back," Li said.

"We're screwed," Kero moaned.

"Come on guys I'm sure we can find a cheap hotel, or cheep food," Sakura said trying to bring up their moods.

"Never would have thought I would die of starvation," Li mumbled.

"There has to be somewhere we can find some food," Tomoyo muttered more to herself than the others.

"You think there's kind of evil sprit looming over us?" Kero wondered.

"Evil sprit? You mean, like a….ghost?" Sakura asked instantly shivering in fear, but the others were too hungry and tired to notice.

"No I probably would have sensed it by now," the amber haired boy replied.

"You can sense ghosts?" Tomoyo asked. Li nodded.

"Yeah, I trained with some monks for a couple years. Where else do you think I would have got these talismans?"

"Excuse me," a soft voice suddenly said. The group turned their heads and saw a young man approaching them from the end of the alleyway.

"Who are you?" Li asked coldly as he reached for his sword.

"Please I mean you no harm. You say you can sense sprits correct?" the man asked. Li just nodded his head without removing his hand from the hilt of his sword. "Then I wish to hire you for a job."

"What kind of job?" Tomoyo wondered.

"An exorcism. I am willing to give you free room and board until the job is done because I overheard that you are without money."

"Why do you want an exorcism?" Li asked.

"I'll explain when we get to my and brother's hotel. Please follow me." The group decided to follow, seeing as this was probably the closest they could to getting money. Plus he was letting them stay in his hotel for free, it was the perfect deal to them.

OOOOO

The man led them to a small hotel with red paint that was peeling off from the roof to the very bottom. The pillars at the front were chipped and filled scratch marks, and the roof was no better. The tiles were falling like leaves in autumn, and the front stairs were old and creaking when you first stepped on them. And to top it off on an old slipping sign was written, "Hyasaki Bros. Hotel."

"This place is a dump," Li concluded.

"Li!" Sakura hissed. "Don't be so rude!"

"No its okay, my brother and I both know it's a dump. It's even worse than a dump in my opinion. But anyway, please step inside." The inside to their surprise looked far better than the outside. The floors were draped with a bright red carpet with different patterns in the corners and center of the floor that spread out until the top of the stairs. In the middle of the ceiling was a golden chandelier emitting light strong enough to illuminate the entire lobby. On the sides were six small but comfortable chairs, and in the center was the register table, with another man behind it.

"So bro," he said with a smile. "Is this help you were promising to get since last week? You sure they can do the job?" the other brother nodded, and turned to the group.

"Now, how about we sit down and I'll explain everything." Minutes later they were sitting at a table in the dining room with more food that the group thought possible.

"First let me introduce myself," the man who led them here started. "I am Jugan Hyasaki."

"And I'm Hyoshi Hyasaki," the other man introduced. Jugan had long blonde hair that was tied in a low ponytail with green intense eyes that had light bags under them. Hyoshi had short green hair with light red eyes. Much like his brother he had light bags under his eyes as well.

"Why is it this hotel looks so great, but it has doesn't have any customers?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah with food this good you should have a hell of a lot more guests," Kero said as he munched on some fish.

"Well you see…." Jugan began. "This hotel just happens to be…haunted." Sakura nearly dropped her chopsticks.

"Ha…. Haunted…?" she whispered fearfully. "You…mean…like…ghosts?"

"Well not necessarily ghosts, it's actually a ghost," Hyoshi corrected. "And a very upset ghost at that."

"It all started a couple of months ago. Hyoshi and I just opened this hotel, and at first we had plenty of guests. In fact we were one of the most frequently visited hotel in town. But all that changed one day. At first guests were just complaining about strange noises from inside the walls. We figured it was just a couple of bugs, but the noise only started to get worse until you could hear it from everywhere in the hotel. Then objects started to levitate randomly along with a weird voice shouting for guests to get out."

"Needless to say," Hyoshi continued. "This scared all our guests away, and none have come to this hotel ever since."

"And you want us to exercise this ghost for you, am I right?" Li said. Jugan nodded. "That depends, how much are you paying?"

"We're willing to give 550 gold. Plus free room and board for however long it takes for you to finish the job. Will that be good enough?" Jugan asked.

"Yeah that'll be good enough," Li replied.

"Oh, and just so you know, we have outdoor hot springs here," Hyoshi said, which got Sakura and Tomoyo ecstatic.

"Really! Real live natural hot springs!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Of course, we weren't one of the best hotels in town for nothing," Hyoshi smiled.

"Where?" the raven-haired girl asked badly containing her excitement.

"Down the hall and to the right."

"We are so there!" Tomoyo practically screamed, and dashed down the hall, dragging Sakura along. Li just groaned and slapped his head.

"Morons," he muttered.

OOOOO

"Ah! This is so relaxing!" Tomoyo sighed as she sank deeper in the hot water.

"Yeah we haven't had a decent bath in I don't know how long," Sakura said as she tried to wrap her small towel closer to herself.

"Oh come on Sakura don't be shy, it's just us girls remember?" Tomoyo reminded her.

"I know, but I can't shake the feeling that we're being watched," the amber haired girl whispered. Tomoyo just sighed.

"Are you really that scared of the ghost?"

"What? No, no! I mean I'm just not comfortable with just a towel as my only cover in an outdoor bath," Sakura said with a smile, but Tomoyo gave her a look that automatically told her that she saw through her little lie. "Okay I am." Tomoyo just laughed.

"Oh come on Sakura! In the past couple of months you've gone up against things far worse than any old ghost. This should be a piece of cake for you."

"But Tomoyo, ghosts are usually vengeful and hideous monsters! And what's worse you can never really see them! This ghost could be anywhere! Why oh why did we take this job?" Sakura exclaimed fearfully as she started to shiver under the water.

"Oh boy," Tomoyo sighed.

"Damn, can they be anymore louder?" Li mumbled to himself as he sank deeper in the water. "A ghost. This should prove to be rather interesting." The young man was about get out of the water when he heard a voice.

"Get out…!" it whispered fiercely.

"Who's there?" Li barked.

"Get out!" the voice said louder. Li reached for his sword that was sitting on the side along with his clothes.

"If you're trying to scare me, you're going to have to show yourself!"

"Get…Out!" Li could feel the once sizzling water started to become unnaturally chilled along with the air. The chestnut haired fighter shivered as cold wind started to pick up along with the volume of the fierce voice. "GET OUT!"

Suddenly the water shot up like columns, and the smoke from the springs blew in his face. Seconds later a blast of water knocked Li against the wall of the springs, and he was trapped against it with the water constantly pushing on his chest.

"It…has…to be that ghost…." He growled as he struggled to free himself. He could feel the wall slowly crack against the pressure with the voice getting louder and louder.

"Get out! GET OUT!" At the moment a transparent figure started to rise from the springs. It had long blue hair with glowing green eyes. As the ghost started to become more visible, Li discovered that it was a woman who was wearing a long white dress.

"Who…are you…?" Li groaned.

"Get OUT!" shouted the ghost woman with that, Li was blasted through the wall of the hot springs, and slid right between Tomoyo and Sakura.

"LI! What do you think your doing?" They screamed and sunk beneath the water.

"It's not what you think! It was that ghost woman!" Li shouted back, and pointed to the wall he made, but to his dismay there was no ghost woman.

"Ghost woman! Yeah right!" Sakura scoffed.

"Seriously! It was her!" Sakura and Tomoyo just looked at each other then at Li.

"HENTAI!" The girls screamed, and both gave Li a blow that sent him flying back to the men's side.

OOOOO

"Grrr…damn it," Li growled that night at dinner. His face was still feeling the punches Sakura and Tomoyo gave him that afternoon.

"Serves you right," Sakura huffed.

"How many times do I have to say, I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Quit gripping about it. You saw me naked and you got just what you deserved."

"I didn't see anything! And besides it was that ghost woman!"

"You saw the ghost…!" Kero exclaimed. "Aw I missed it!"

"Li, Sakura and I didn't hear or see any ghost," Tomoyo said in all seriousness.

"You didn't hear her yelling?" The girls shook their head. 'Does that mean she was concealing her presence so only the one she appeared to could see her? This obviously isn't your ordinary ghost.'

"So I hear you had a run-in with the ghost yesterday," Jugan said as he walked in the dining room.

"More or less. Tell me Jugan, when your guests first started to hear the voice could you hear them as well?"

"Not at first, but over time the voice started to get louder and louder until anyone who walked in could hear it."

'Does that mean she's been getting stronger?'

"So Li….how do you plan on defeating this ghost?" Jugan asked.

"Yeah it's not like you have any real experience with ghosts," Tomoyo said. But before the amber eyed teen could answer the lights started to flicker, and the same cold air entered the room.

"Get…Out! Get Out!" the ghost screamed as the lights started flicker faster. "Get Out! GET OUT!" Sakura let out a scream and covered her ears.

"Damn," Li growled as he drew his sword. "She's back." The phantom woman descended from the ceiling with an ice-cold glare on her face.

"It appears you don't scare easily," she whispered fiercely. "Then if I cannot scare you away, then I'll just make leave in a coffin!" At that moment she raised her hands and raised the chairs in the room along with them.

"I think that would be our cue to run!" Kero exclaimed.

"No you think!" Li replied sarcastically as they dashed out of the room with the furniture being hurled at them from behind.

"You fools cannot escape me!" the ghost woman screamed and threw a chair through a wall. "Come back here!"

"This is one pissed off ghost!" Kero remarked.

"Shut up and keep running!" Li snapped as he ducked under a thrown chair.

"Come back here!" the ghost screamed at the top of her lungs, and managed to destroy every light in the hotel, leaving the group in absolute darkness.

"This is bad," Jugan said nervously. "She's never done this before."

"In….the dark….with a ……ghost!" Sakura exclaimed, and let out a loud scream. "Get me out of here! Forget this job I just want to go!" Li let out a yell of anger and frustration as he lit a fire talisman.

"Would you cool it! Scream your damn lungs out isn't going to do shit! Now, Jugan do you guys have any lanterns around here?"

"Yes, right here," Hyoshi answered walking into the lobby with an already lit lantern with five more under his arm.

"Good, now we'll split up to catch this ghost," Li said.

"HOEEE! Split up in the dark! With a ghost around! Are you sure that's a good idea!" Sakura exclaimed in pure fear. Li just looked at her with his normal scowl.

"Okay, two things. One, just what in the hell does 'hoe' mean? And two, why the hell are you scared? Ghosts aren't nearly as bad compared to most demons!"

"Her brother always told her ghost stories when they were kids. So it's only natural that she would develop a fear them," Tomoyo replied. Li just rolled his eyes.

"Fear or no fear we're splitting up," he said simply. "Now Jugan, stuffed animal, check the upper floors. Sakura, Hyoshi, and Tomoyo search out the lower floors. And I'll scout around the outside. Got it?" The others just nodded. "Okay. If you run into that ghost use one of these."

Li held up a set of talismans with a different pattern than the elementals he usually used. He gave each of them a set of two.

"What are they?" Kero wondered.

"Exorcism talismans you moron! If you see the ghost throw them at the at the walls or whatever its around. They should go off automatically and instantly exercise it or at least paralyze it. Okay? Good. Now lets move out!"

"You're friend sure is the commanding type," Hyoshi commented as they split up.

"Yeah, you should see him in a bad mood," Tomoyo replied. The dark haired girl looked behind her to find Sakura gingerly looking around every corner they passed and looking over her shoulder exactly every five seconds. Tomoyo giggled slightly as she watched her friend. In a way it was funny and kind of sad all at the same time.

"Excuse me…" Hyoshi said suddenly. "I have to ask you. What will happen to her after you exercise her from this place?"

"I'm not really sure. I think Li was just seal her somewhere, if he can do that. And if he can't he'll probably think of some way to get rid of her," Tomoyo replied.

"I see…" Hyoshi whispered.

"Why do you want to know?" the dark haired girl asked. Hyoshi stared at the pitch-black floor with his hands curling up into fists.

"I'm…sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry but I can't let you do it."

"What? What do you mean?" But at that moment the air became ice cold and a fierce wind blew through the hallway. At that second the ghost woman phased through the walls with a purple aura flaring around her.

'Her aura is incredible! Who is she?' Sakura wondered.

"I have given ample warning for all of you! And yet you continue to disturb me! Now see I will have to make an example out of all of you! I'll kill you all so no one will come here again!"

"Don't it please Kihada!" Hyoshi pleaded to the ghost.

"Hyoshi…." Kihada whispered as her aura started to go down.

"Do they know each other?" Sakura wondered.

"I have a feeling that this job has gotten a lot more complicated.

AN: Short I know, and not exactly a standalone like I said but this is just a two-part story okay, I swear! That and I'm too tired to add anything else. And I'm going to keep this AN really short and let the preview do the rest of the talking. Anyway here's the preview, and me I'm going to bed.

_Tomoyo: So Hyoshi-san knew the ghost woman this whole time, and now he won't let us do our job. What's up that?_

_Sakura: Hoeee! She's so scary!_

_Tomoyo: Anyway, next time we learn of Hyoshi reasons for defending the ghost woman Kihada and why she's haunting their hotel. But will their explanations be enough to convince Li not to go through with the exorcism? _

_Sakura: Somehow I doubt that. _

_Tomoyo: You'll just have to find out in "The Haunting Maiden part 2" _

_Sakura and Tomoyo: See ya next time!_


	32. The Haunting Maiden part 2

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 32

Sakura and Tomoyo stared with confused looks on their faces as they watched one of their employers, Hyoshi converse with the ghost they were supposed to get rid of. And apparently the ghost had a name, it was Kihada.

"Kihada please, stop this. I beg of you! Nothing can be solved this way!" Hyoshi pleaded to the ghost.

"Don't give me that Hyoshi! I've told you countless times! This is the only way to through to the living!" the ghost shot back.

"Are you communicating with me by scaring the hell out of me?" Kihada just gave Hyoshi a slight glare before turning away.

"You can't stop this. No one can." And with that the woman phased through one of the walls.

"Kihada," Hyoshi sighed, and turned around to see confused looks coming from Sakura and Tomoyo. "I guess I owe you two an explanation don't I?"

"Yes, that would help," Tomoyo replied.

"Well then follow me to my room. There I'll explain everything you'll need to know." Sakura and Tomoyo shrugged at each other and decided to follow seeing as this was probably their only chance to find out what was really going on. Hyoshi led the two girls to a room at the end of the dark hall, and set his lantern on a small tea-drinking table.

"Just what's going between you and that ghost Hyoshi?" Tomoyo asked. The young man sighed and looked down as he clenched his fists together.

"Her name is Kihada Yamaki. And she and her family lived in this very hotel twenty years ago," Hyoshi replied.

OOOOO

Li held his source of light higher as he scouted around the perimeter of the hotel. It was dead of night with the stars and quarter moon as his natural source of light. He scanned the ground, and the skies, but no sign of the ghost. He grunted in frustration.

"Damn, for an angry ghost woman, she is hard to find. I can't sense her anywhere!" He was about to turn around when a cold feeling formed in the pits of his stomach. His body felt like it was frozen stiff as a soft and bitter voice whispered in his ear.

"I don't have to be, if you know where to look." On instinct the chestnut haired boy drew his sword and whirled around slashing his opponent. It would have worked if his opponent weren't a ghost. The sword just passed through the ghost woman who laughed afterwards.

"Did you really expect that to harm me!" Li jumped back and went into a stance.

"Actually I didn't, that was more of instinct," he replied.

"Get away from my hotel or die!" Li raised an eyebrow at this.

"You're hotel? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Silence!" the ghost woman hissed and fired a green blast of energy. Li swiftly deflected the attack with his sword and rushed towards the ghost while drawing out one his exorcism talismans.

"Take this!" The ghost woman easily avoided the small white sheets of paper and countered with another blast green energy. Li quickly jumped out of the way and hurled another talisman towards the ghost, but she just phased through it. "I should have known," he mumbled. Kihada just laughed.

"What's the matter too hard to finish me? Well then how about I make it easier." At that moment a stray dog passed by, and the vengeful sprit entered its body. Seconds later, the dog started to howl in pain as the effects of ghost overshadowing began.

"Aw shit. This can't be good," Li muttered and readied himself for anything. The brown fur started to become thicker and black. The coral black eyes became crimson red, and its paws doubled in size. Fangs grew sharper, and claws sprouted from its now oversized paws. The dog's body began grow and expand until it was the size of a full grown bear. When the transformation ended the monster dog let out an earthshaking howl.

"What do you think now! Fair?" the dog, or rather, Kihada asked. Before Li could answer the monstrous creature lashed out its powerful tail towards him. The young man quickly ducked avoiding a tail attack that smashed through an entire wall.

'This is going to be harder than I thought,' he thought as he looked over the ghost possessed dog.

"That's not all I can do! Watch this!" The dog opened its monstrous mouth and released a powerful green fire. In a flash Li's shield was put up, but the flames were too intense for the windshield to hold it off.

'Damn! This is one powerful ghost! I'm not sure how long this shield can hold!' Suddenly though the fire was cut off, but before he could even breathe he was knocked to the ground by what seemed like seven tons of force. When he looked up he saw the ghost possessed animal standing over him, bearing its fangs, and its mouth foaming like it was mad. The monster dog raised one its paws ready to slice through Li's body with its claws. The young man quickly rolled out of the way only to be stopped by his other front paw.

Li grunted painfully as he felt the full weight of the possessed dog's paw on his body. It felt like the weight of three boulders were on his stomach, slowly crushing him.

"Feeling like your stomach is going to cave in?" the ghost laughed as she increased the pressure. Li gritted his teeth in pain as he struggled to break free and to find his sword, which he dropped when he was tackled.

"Damn….it…." he groaned when he couldn't feel his sword around him. Kihada laughed once again as she watched Li struggle.

"It's no use! I'm going to finish you here and now, then go after your friends!" The dog opened its wide mouth, and Li instantly knew that it was going to use the fire attack on him. There was no way he could dodge when it was this close, especially because the massive weight on his body. Frantically the young man felt around for his sword, his time running out. He could tell the fire was going to release in five seconds, five seconds to live. Before he was about to give up all hope, his fingers brushed against a rough surface. Without a second of hesitation he brought up his sword and stabbed the monstrous dog in its side.

The possessed animal let out a loud howl in pain as it stood on its hind legs, releasing Li. The amber haired fighter jumped to his feet and knocked the monster to the ground with a flying sidekick while it was on its hind legs. The dog thrashed around its legs as it struggled to get back upright. Li approached the beast, pulled out his sword, and raised it to deliver the final blow. But before he could finish it, the dog suddenly looked straight at him, and blew him back with a blast of fire.

"The game isn't over yet! It's just getting started!" Kihada exclaimed as the dog got back on its feet. Li threw off the top part of his robes and went into a stance with his sword.

"I couldn't agree more."

OOOOO

"Her name is Kihada Yamaki, and twenty years ago she and her family occupied this hotel."

"Twenty years? She's been dead for that long!" Sakura explained, Tomoyo quickly shushed her.

"Don't interrupt Sakura-chan. Please go on Hyoshi." The older man nodded, and continued with the story.

"Twenty years ago Kihada, her husband, her four children, and her mother, moved into this hotel. A war had broken out in their hometown, and they started to travel in order to escape. Her father was killed during the first battles, fearing the worst for her two sons and her husband, they all fled. They came upon this town after almost a month of travel.

"Back then this town was old, and rundown. But when they came they automatically began to fix it up. They rebuilt the building, replaced old wood, opened shops, and soon refugees started to gather here in order to escape the war. Needless to say those were probably the happiest years of her life. But four years later everything changed….." Hyoshi trailed off as a look of regret came upon his face.

"What happened?" Sakura asked quietly. Hyoshi took a deep breath, and continued.

"Soldiers from their hometown came here. They came to draft all young boys to the military, even by force if they had to. Kihada and her husband hid their two boys trying to convince them all their children were girls, but the soldiers wouldn't give up. They blew through the entire hotel like a hurricane, destroying anything in their path, until they found them. Kihada screamed for them not to take them away, but they only shoved her out of the way, and dragged her sons, and her husband away from her. And that's not the worst of it…"

"What else happened?" Tomoyo wondered already saddened.

"They also dragged away her daughters in order to become prostitutes for the General of the Army. Well years passed, and she heard no word from her husband, sons or daughters, but she still waited for them. She refused to move on until she had gotten word that they were dead. She waited years and years, but still no word. She hoped and prayed for them to return to her, but nothing. After ten years of waiting, she died, a broken, and lonely woman. However even in death, she still waits for them." Sakura and Tomoyo looked down with sadness in their eyes. Kihada wasn't a vengeful sprit, just a lonely one, who just wants her family back.

"Her family," Tomoyo started after a few minutes of silence. "They all died, didn't they?" Hyoshi nodded.

"Unfortunately her husband, and sons died in battle, since they were merely foot soldiers the generals thought of them unimportant and didn't bother to tell Kihada. And her daughters…..were sold off to different clan leaders every couple of years so communication was virtually impossible. They died eventually, from a disease they received from their "job."

"I….see…." Sakura said slowly. This entire story had changed her outlook on Kihada completely. She always thought that ghosts were evil, vengeful sprits, and should be feared. But Kihada wasn't sprit to be afraid of, she should be pitied. She had the ones closest to her heart taken away from her, and died a lonely death. No wonder her soul couldn't find peace.

"Hold on," Tomoyo began. "How do you know all these things about her and her family?"

"Well I know what happened because she told me," Hyoshi replied. "It was when my brother and I moved in town a few years back. We had just bought the hotel and I was cleaning up the upper floors when she appeared before me. Before she wasn't like this. In fact she was very friendly, we would always have little chats every now and then. And eventually she told me what happened to her."

"How do you know that her family was killed?" Sakura wondered. Hyoshi looked down with shame.

"Because….one of the soldiers that took them away…...was my father. When my brother and I were boys he told us stories about the war and his role in it. One day when were in our teens, he told us about two prostitutes that his general loaned him, who were the youngest in his general's collection. He also told us that a couple of months after his "loan" they died."

"And her husband and sons? How did you know about them?" Tomoyo asked quietly.

"Once again my father," the young man replied softly with his fists tightening under the table. "In one of his stories he told us about a horrible battle that cost them an entire unit of foot soldiers. But they didn't alert their families because they felt they were unimportant. Once Kihada told me about her and what happened, it was easy to make the connections."

"So you're from the family that caused her so much pain, and you're trying to save her? How ironic," Tomoyo commented.

"Yes," Hyoshi agreed. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"Yes. Why is she so angry? I mean from your story it sounds like she shouldn't be causing so much trouble," Sakura said after some moments of silence.

"She didn't have any problems when it was just my brother and I. But the problems started when we started to bring guests here. I believe she felt that we had no right to bring strangers into her home."

"Her home?" Tomoyo repeated with confusion.

"You have to remember Ms. Tomoyo, a ghost is a sprit who can't let go of their past, even in death. So in Kihada's eyes the guests were trespassers in her home, and she felt she had to get them out. At least, that's how I see it."

"Oh, I see. So before when you were talking to her, you were asking her to stop scaring people weren't you?"

"Yes." Minutes passed and none of them said a word. They were all contemplating what to do about Kihada. She was haunting the hotel, and it was their duty, and their job to exercise her. But at the same time, she wasn't really a vengeful sprit, but a lonely one, who can't let go of the tragedies that have happened to her. "I have a favor to ask," Hyoshi said after a while.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Please don't exercise her."

"What? Why not?" Tomoyo wondered. "Wouldn't it be better for her? She would be able to find peace wouldn't she? She would be with her family right?" the older man shook his head.

"No I'm afraid not. You see when sprits are exercised they are sent to place of eternal darkness with other sprits who couldn't find peace or rest in death. It is basically a void or limbo, whichever you want to call it. And I'm sure her family will not be there. It would hardly be peace for her. And besides……I…..love her."

"What?"

OOOOO

Li grunted as he jumped to the side, avoiding a savage bite from the ghost-possessed dog, but just as his feet touched the ground, the tail lashed out and knocked him against a wall. The chestnut haired fighter jumped out of the way of a fierce pounce that smashed through the entire wall. Seeing his chance Li drew out a talisman.

"Element Lighting!" The monstrous dog yelped in pain as the lighting passed through its body, but seconds later it pounced towards Li again. But the young man quickly back flipped out of its path.

'Gotta weaken the dog,' he thought. 'Right now that body is way too powerful for my exorcism talismans.'

"Try this!" the possessed dog released a breath of fire. Li quickly leaped into the air and pulled out another set of talismans. Without hesitation he threw them towards the beast but they were slapped away by its massive paws. Another breath of fire shot towards the young man as he came down, but a shield of wind covered him in seconds. The second he touched down, the beast pounced through the shield, and pinned him to the ground. Li cried out in pain as his skin was torn through by one powerful swipe of the beast's claws. The animal came down with its fangs ready for use, but Li quickly held up his sword and the animal bit that instead.

'Gotcha!' he thought and secretly slipped a lighting talisman on the dog. Li could feel it putting more jaw pressure on his sword, it would break in eleven seconds not giving him much time. Working quickly the amber-eyed fighter slipped on three more lighting talismans and two exorcism talismans. With that finished, Li struggled to escape from this pin, and to save his sword. He only had five seconds left. He pushed his shoulders off the ground and lifted the rest of his upper body against the weight of the monstrous dog, but the weight of the animal easily overpowered his. Li growled when he could see cracks in his sword, he was running out of time and fast. In a desperate move he raised his index finger, middle finger, and thumb. 'This is gonna take a lot of magic!'

"Force now my plight, release the light. Lighting x5!" A more intense lighting strike stuck the beast causing it to not only become a living light bulb for a few seconds, but it also released Li's sword, and fell over.

"This isn't over!" Kihada's voice shouted from the weakened beast. Li stood up with a smug look on his face.

"Oh I think it is! Lighting, and Exorcism! On, full power!" With those words the talismans Li had placed earlier activated releasing powerful waves of electricity, and an exorcism aura. The possessed dog howled in anguish as it felt like its body was being torn apart. Li could hear Kihada's screams more than the dog's howls, which meant it was working. In seconds the sprit woman was forced out of her possession, and fell at Li's feet.

"You….bastard…." she said weakly. When she tried to attack, she realized she couldn't move. "What! What is this!"

"Kind of hard to move when you're filled with exorcism energy isn't it? Now to finish this little job of mine." With those words Li reached into his cloak and pulled out one last talisman.

OOOOO

"You love her?" Tomoyo repeated. Hyoshi nodded. "How long?"

"I guess it was when she first told me about her past. Before that I would just talk to her little bit, but when she told me what happened, there was a look of pure loneliness, and sadness. I wanted to be there for her, even if she is already dead. And pretty soon after that I realized that I was in love with her.

"I might not be able to be with her like I want, but the least I could do is to save her from an eternity of loneliness, she's had enough of that already." Hyoshi let out a small chuckle. "You must think I'm crazy, to be in love with someone who isn't really there."

"No it's not," Sakura piped up. "You found someone you care for and protect. Sure it may be different, but there's nothing wrong with it."

"But my brother….." Hyoshi started but Tomoyo interrupted.

"If your brother can't accept who you love, then he's not much of a brother now is he?" The green haired man smiled at them.

"Ms. Sakura, Ms. Tomoyo, thank you. Now come on we have to find Kihada. I think I know how to calm her sprit."

"Are you going to tell her how you feel?" Tomoyo wondered. Hyoshi nodded as he walked out of the room. Suddenly a flash outside lit up the dark room for a split second.

"What the hell was that?" Hyoshi wondered, and he and the girls looked out the window. Their eyes widened when they saw Kihada flying out of what looked like a demon dog's body, and Li standing over her with a talisman in his hand ready for use. "Oh no! He's going to exercise her!" Thinking quickly, Sakura opened the window.

"Li don't do it!"

OOOOO

Li smirked as he started to activate the power of his exorcism talisman, knowing full well it would finish his job. But suddenly he heard an all too familiar voice.

"Li don't do it!" The amber-eyed fighter looked up and saw Sakura yelling from a window. With a mixture of confusion, and annoyance, he yelled back.

"Why not! If I don't we won't get paid! Do you want starve to death!"

"That doesn't matter anymore! Besides we have another way!"

"Like what!"

"Hold on!" With that Sakura disappeared from the window, there was minutes with neither Li or Kihada moving. The young man gritted his teeth in pure annoyance and impatience. But before he could completely lose it Sakura, Tomoyo, and Hyoshi walked out the door. Li could tell they were up to something seeing as the girls were pushing one of his employers towards the paralyzed ghost woman. He simply raised an eyebrow and stepped aside to see how things played out.

"What the hell are you two up to?" he muttered to them, but they just smiled at him.

"Just watch," they replied.

"What do you want Hyoshi!" the ghost snapped.

"Kihada," he replied calmly. "You have to stop this. You will forever wander through this world with no peace in sight at this rate. Then you'll never see your family again." Kihada looked away, and Li could sense the feeling of anger slowly fading away.

"Why Hyoshi," she whispered. "Why are you so concerned about what I do? The living shouldn't care about sprits and ghosts."

"That's where you're wrong. I care, I'll always care because I….I….love you."

"Wh-what?" Hyoshi nodded. "You love me, even though we can never be together?"

"Yes. I'm willing to leap into the very pits of hell to be with you. That's how much you mean to me Kihada." A tear rolled down the lonely woman's face.

"I'm sorry Hyoshi," she whispered. "But my heart belongs to my husband, and him only."

"I understand," he replied after minutes of silence.

"And I think I am finally ready to see him again," the ghost woman continued. She turned to Li who still had the talisman in his hand. "I ask you to please exercise me so I may see my family again. Will you do that for me?"

"All right." Li threw the piece of paper over her forehead and started to chant words in a language the others couldn't understand. Once he said the last words the talisman began to glow white and Kihada's transparent image began fade away.

"Kihada wait!" Hyoshi exclaimed.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you and your brother Hyoshi. And I want to thank you for being with me, even while I was blinded by my anger. Thank you for everything Hyoshi." With that the now peaceful ghost disappeared from the land of the living.

"Kihada. How could you! She'll just be alone for eternity!" the green haired man exclaimed at Li, who just scoffed.

"No she won't. You were able to calm her sprit enough that she could join those who were able to accept their deaths. Who knows maybe she will see her family again. I sure as hell don't." At that moment Kero and Jugan walked outside with confused looks on their faces.

"What did we miss?" Kero wondered.

OOOOO

The next morning Li and the others were ready to leave town and get back on the road. Jugan and Hyoshi were there to see them off.

"I can't thank you guys enough," Jugan said and handed them a pouch with 550 gold in it. "There's also some food and supplies in there."

"Thank you," Sakura replied with a bow. Tomoyo looked over to Hyoshi who had a look of sadness on his face. The dark haired girl put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry I'm sure she's okay. Because of you she able to free herself from the anger that blinded her." The older man looked up and managed to smile back.

"Thanks Ms. Tomoyo."

"Don't mention it."

"Hey! Are you coming or not!" Li shouted.

"Right I'm coming!" Tomoyo replied and rushed to catch up with them. When the travelers were out of sight Jugan turned to his brother.

"What was she talking about?" he wondered. Hyoshi shook his head.

"Forget it. Right now we have to fix up the hotel and get customers back in here. Isn't that right?" Jugan just shrugged and followed his brother inside. He'd ask him about it later.

OOOOO

"So Sakura what has this experience taught you about ghosts?" Tomoyo asked as they walked along a dirt path.

"Well maybe ghosts aren't that bad after all, and I shouldn't afraid of them. In fact I'm not afraid of them anymore," the amber haired girl said proudly. Li just scoffed.

"Yeah right no one loses their fear just like that." Sakura pouted.

"Well I have!" An evil look suddenly crossed Li's face.

"GHOST!"

"Where! Where!" Sakura asked frantically while hiding behind Tomoyo.

"See I told you, you're still afraid."

"Oh, Li you jerk!" Tomoyo just smiled as she watched them. What a day this was going to be.

AN: Man this chapter was crappy, at least to me, and I wrote it. Which means it must be bad. Anyway sorry if it was disappointing, but this has been on my computer for weeks and I just felt like I had to finish it. Besides I figured the longer it takes for me to finish this chapter, the longer it would take for me to get to the really good chapter I have planned. Once again I'm sorry this chapter wasn't as good as my others, but hopefully the next one will be better. Well without further ado here's the preview for the next chapter.

Li: They say rain brings life, but to me it's nothing but a pain. It does nothing for me except bring back memories I'd rather forget.

Sakura: Next time we take shelter in a cave during a rainstorm, but this storm brings more than just water.

_Tomoyo: Apparently rain puts Li in an even worse mood than he usually in. And if that isn't bad enough, we find out that this cave may not be as empty as we thought?_

_Sakura: Be sure to join us next time for "The Strom of Darkness" next time on Seven Deadly Jewels. _


	33. The Storm of Darkness

Seven Deadly Jewels Chapter 33 

The rapid sound of pouring rain was the noise of the gloomy morning. The sun was covered with thick gray clouds showing that it wouldn't let up soon. A light boom of thunder followed a brief flash of light shortly. Accompanying these two elements was a harsh wind that blew rain in the faces of any travelers who dared to travel in such weather. Puddles filled the dirt roads along with mud, and small running streams that falling leaves sped by on. All in all it was not a day to be traveling. Luckily for a group of travelers, they had taken shelter in a cave the night before the rain.

"Man is it raining again!" Kero groaned as they sat around a fire. "It's been raining for three whole days now! I'm sick to death of the rain!"

"Yeah I know, rain always puts a damper on things," Tomoyo agreed with a sigh as she looked out at the entrance of cave, watching the falling water. "But as long as it's raining like this, there's no point in going on." The yellow beast let out another groan before stretching out on the rocky floor.

"I'm so bored. There's nothing to do, but sleep and watch this never-ending rain! If it doesn't stop soon I swear I'm going to go crazy! Plus I'm hungry!" The dark haired girl sighed and gave Kero a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure Sakura will be back any minute with some fruit." As if on cue, the amber haired girl walked into the cave with her cloak absolutely soaked, but on the brighter side for Kero, her arms were filled with fruit.

"I'm back!" she announced.

"It's about time!" the yellow beast exclaimed and instantly flew over to Sakura, who was barely out of the rain. "What took you so long!"

"Sorry, but it was hard to see in all this rain. Plus I wasn't sure which fruits to get," the amber haired girl replied as she laid her rain soaked cloak near the fire. "So how were things?"

"Quiet," Tomoyo replied, and picked up a fruit.

"That's good."

"No Sakura, I mean really quiet. As in unnaturally quiet. Li and Kero didn't bicker once, he didn't start training, he didn't say or do anything except just sit and watch the rain."

"Really?" Tomoyo nodded.

"He's just been sitting there since we got here." Sakura turned around and saw Li leaning against to rock wall in the darkness with his eyes fixed on the rain. Although, they weren't seeing falling rain drops. Instead he was seeing a girl's face with blue hair, and bright light green eyes that stared at him with a warm smile. As he watched the rain, that face, and that smile manifested itself into a scene from two years ago.

Flashback 

His body was torn open in countless places, and crimson red stained all of his clothes and the muddy road as he walked. His sword was the only thing that was keeping him from collapsing as he trudged along the path. His right eye was swollen shut with blood from a forehead wound covering it. The hard rain only made it harder for his already weakened left eye for him to see where he was going. The houses he passed had candle lit windows with couples cuddling together as they got ready for bed. It was only natural for no one to be outside in this horrible weather. He could feel his internal bleeding only getting worse, but he was determined to make it back, he'd promised.

His weak left eye looked up, and saw a sole figure standing in the middle of the road, with an umbrella over them. The weakened fighter increased his already slowed pace as best as he could to get to that figure, the only one crazy enough to stand outside in this rain. As he came closer he could feel his body start to shut down, and what was left of his conscious vision was fading, but despite this he continued to push his limits.

The figure started to approach him as well, as they came closer, he could tell it was a girl, about his age. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell it was her. She was only person he knew stupid enough to wait out in the rain like this. He smirked slightly as she increased her pace. Finally he couldn't take anymore, the strain on his weakened body was too much. He felt his body grow numb, and stiffen like a board. He attempted one more step, but his legs gave out from under him, and he fell like a log. But before he could reach the mud, a warm embrace caught him, despite his bloody appearance.

"I'm…. back…like I promised…. Ling," he whispered.

"And I welcome you, my Syaoran."

_End Flashback_

"Hey, Li," a voice suddenly called out. The young man's look of sudden surprise, turned into a stone cold glare in a split second, and turned to Sakura.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked harshly. Sakura was taken aback by his sudden harsh tone of voice, but decide to put that to the side, and offered him some fruit.

"According to Tomoyo, you really haven't eaten since we took shelter in this cave. So here, have these."

"Save it. I'm not hungry," he replied without even fully looking at her.

"Well I can tell something isn't right. You're not eating, you never talk, and you're always sitting in the dark. Are you not feeling well, here let me feel your forehead." Sakura went for Li's forehead, when his steel grip suddenly wrapped around her wrist. The young girl winced in pain, and tried to pull out of it, but she was nowhere near strong enough.

"Leave…me…. alone," Li said dangerously as if he was talking to an opponent. "I'm not sick, and I don't need you're damn help."

"Li…let go that hurts. I just want to help you." This only made his grip tighten, and Sakura winced once again.

"Get out of my sight," he whispered with pure ice in his voice, and released his tight grip on her.

"But…Li…."

"Why are you still here? I told you to get out. Now get out!" Sakura made a fist, and threw down the fruit in front of his feet.

"Fine, I'm gone!" she yelled back, and ran out the cave entrance.

"Hey Sakura! Come on, where are you going!" Tomoyo shouted at Sakura's running figure. "What did you say to her! She was only trying to help!" Li turned his stone glare towards the dark haired girl that caused her to look away, and run after Sakura in the hard rain. The irritable young man glared at the small winged beast that remained.

"And just what the hell are you staring at?" Without a word, Kero flew out of the cave after Sakura and Tomoyo. When they were gone, Li stared at the fire, and just scoffed. "Good riddance." Unknown to them a pair of red eyes were watching them the entire time.

OOOOO

Sakura ran through the rain with both tears of anger, and misery. The rain soaked her entire body, and the cold air chilled her bones to the marrow, but she didn't care, she just wanted to get away from her so-called "traveling companion." She pulled out her mother's necklace, and remembered when he gave it back, and said her name for the first time. She had thought that at that point he would begin to warm up to her, Tomoyo, and Kero. But now he was just like when they first started, worse even.

'Why am I even crying so much?' the young girl thought to herself as she stopped suddenly. As she felt her water drenched cheeks, she wasn't sure if it was from her tears, the rain, or maybe even a mixture of both. Sakura sat under a tree and tried to calm herself. She wasn't even sure why Li's words affected her so much. 'It's like we're a couple or anything. I'm not even sure if we're even….friends anymore. We're we even friends?'

"What a poor night to be wandering around isn't it little girl?" a devious voice whispered from behind her. Sakura froze, it seemed the air itself chilled even more. She slowly turned around, but saw no one there. The emerald-eyed girl shivered, the true chill of the rain finally affecting her body.

"Who's…there?" she asked fearfully.

"Cold are we?" the voice chuckled. "Well I must admit I don't like this kind of weather either, but it's perfect to hunt in!" Sakura could feel her shivering increasing, and her heart pounding at an unbelievable rate.

"Who are you? What do you want?" The devilish voice chuckled again.

"You of course!" At that moment Sakura heard the fast paced flapping of wings. The young girl dove into the mud filled ground just as a blast of loud sonic waves passed over her. The noise was so loud, even after it passed over her, she could still hear it. Sakura clapped her hands over her ears to try to block out the noise, but it was still going through.

'What…..is this? This noise, it's so terrible!'

"Finding it hard to bear my music?" the voice asked from behind her. The young girl gulped, and turned her head to see just who her attacker was. In front of her was a tall man with long demon ears. His pale skin made it easy for Sakura to see him in the darkness of rain. He wore a crimson red cape over himself with a necklace that looked a cross around his neck. His odd purple eyes looked at Sakura intently, and his dark smile reveled his sharp fangs.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked again.

"I am Hiyaka, a demon of the night." The young girl quickly scanned the ground for a stick, and the minute she found one, she transformed it into her weapon.

"You mean you're a vampire!" Hiyaka shook his head with a chuckle.

"No dear girl. Vampires are in a class of their own. I am nowhere near as powerful as a vampire. I may be a demon of the night, but I am no vampire."

"I don't care what you are. What do you want with me!" The demon simply gave her a dark smile as he walked towards her.

"Oh, it is not what I want, but what my master Erim wants. And he wants the necklace hanging around you're neck." Sakura instantly went into a defensive stance.

"You'll have to pry off my cold dead fingers!" she exclaimed. The demon just sighed.

"Must we do this? You are no match for me."

"You don't know that!" Sakura dashed towards Hiyaka wit her weapon over head with the mud splashing on her heels as she ran. When she was close enough to strike, the amber haired girl brought down her weapon, only to find her opponent gone. "What the-!"

"Over here," the demon called. Sakura turned around, and saw that Hiyaka was already four feet behind her. Needless to say the young girl was shocked.

"How did you get all the way over there!" The demon chuckled again.

"I told you that you are no match for me." Sakura shook off her shock, and fired a windblast at the fiend, which caused some mud to fly up and cover the impact the blast had. But as the mud came down, it revealed the demon gone. Before she could freak out again, she felt the air behind her suddenly chill, as if there were icicles in the very air. Always trusting what she felt, the young girl quickly squatted into a duck just as a slash from long sharp claws passed over her. Sakura spun around into a 180-turn slash, but once again her attack only slashed through air.

'Not again!'

"How many times must I say? You are no match for me," Hiyaka said from a tree branch about four feet away from Sakura.

'How is he moving so fast! If this keeps up, I'm sure that I can beat him! Maybe I should get Li….' Just as that thought crossed her mind, his recent words to her repeated themselves.

"_Get out of my sight!" _Sakura shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts and turned to face her opponent.

'I don't need him. I can beat this demon myself. It's not like this is my first battle anyway.' The emerald eyed girl nodded to herself, and went on to dash towards the tree Hiyaka occupied. But just as she blinked, the demon was gone once again. As soon as she felt the air chill to her right, the young girl instantly whirled around and blasted the demon through four trees with a well-timed windblast.

"Not bad," he chuckled as he wiped the blood from the small cut on his chin. "Not bad at all. But you'll need to better than that to defeat me!"

"I intend to," Sakura replied with a smirk, and pulled out the Wood card. "Wood card, bind my foe!" With her command stated, the wood sprit appeared out of the card, and flew over to the trees Hiyaka crashed in. Within moments unnaturally strong branches held down the demon.

"What kind of magic is this!" Hiyaka exclaimed as he struggled to break free of the branches, but they were too strong for him.

"That outta keep you still," Sakura smirked.

"Damn bitch!"

"Call me what you want, but this fight is over! I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to! Now answer my questions! Who's this Erim guy? And what does he want with my necklace. Also, how are you able to move so fast!"

"Why should I answer to you!"

"If you don't, I'll have the Wood card snap all the bones in your arms, and legs at the same time," Sakura replied coldly. "That might not have happened to me before, but I'm assuming it's not a pleasant experience. Now talk!" After a few minutes, Hiyaka spat, and muttered,

"All right…I'll talk…." Inside, Sakura had the same stern expression on her face, but inside she was as excited, and jumpy as Tomoyo would be when she wore one her outfits.

'HA! Spending so much time with Li is paying off after all! Wait until Tomoyo, dad, Touya, and Kero hear about this!'

"Erim is my master," Hiyaka started. "And he wants the seven jewels."

"What for." However, unfortunately for Sakura, Hiyaka just started to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Already I have said too much. At first I just wanted to take the jewel from you, and leave you alive, but I will have to kill you, to keep you from spreading what you've heard!"

"And how will you break free? My Wood sprit has you trapped!"

"That's what you think!" A dark aura began to encircle the demon, and his already long ears began to get even longer. His fangs grew in length as well, in seconds they were about as long as saber tooth tiger's. His arms tripled in muscle capacity, they broke through the branches, freeing him. The purple eyes that looked at Sakura with spite, were bright crimson red. His chest tore through his robes reveling brown fur that began to grow all around his body. His voice became high pitched, and ten times louder. But what was most shocking for Sakura, were the long bat wings that sprouted from below his arms. When the transformation finished, the new creature let out a loud high-pitched screech that brought Sakura to her knees, clutching her ears in pain.

"What….what the heck…are you?"

"Now that's one question I can answer! I am a demon bat! A creature of the night, with powers that can rival that of a vampire! You should feel honored girl, I've never had to transform to take of a lowly human like yourself! Let alone a pathetic girl! Now prepare to face your death!"

"I won't let you take my necklace!" Sakura declared. The bat demon spread out his new wings and took flight. The wind created from his wings as he took off, was far more powerful than the wind Sakura could create, and it blew her into a tree. The young girl looked up and saw the bat circle around for an aerial attack. Sakura picked herself up, and when the creature was close enough, she swung her weapon, shooting a wave of wind at him. But the second before it hit, the creature disappeared. Knowing this trick by now, Sakura spun behind her and swung her staff with all her might behind it. However, it felt like she hit fifty brick walls at once. She looked up and saw the demon bat had no look of pain on his face. With one swing from his wing, Sakura was blown back into the mud.

"Did you honestly believe that could work!" the bat laughed, and picked up the girl by her neck. "Oh, and don't think you're friends are going to save you, my brother will keep them busy!"

"There are…more of you," Sakura managed to get out.

"Of course! Did you truly believe I grew up in a cave all alone? The cave you and your friends took refuge in, happens to be the cave of my brothers! It will be no problem for them to kill them, and take whatever jewels you have!" Sakura's eyes widened at this, and struggled to free herself, but the creature's grip on her was too strong.

"Don't think you'll get away with this! My friends are strong. There's no way your brothers can take them down!"

"Oh I beg to differ. We demon bats are powerful, not only physically, but we have interesting powers! We can travel at the speed of sound itself! There's no way you're friends can get away!"

"No wonder you could move so fast!" Sakura said, still trying to escape. 'I have to get out of here I warn the others!'

"Oh, and there is one more power that we have."

"Huh?" Hiyaka opened his mouth, and released a powerful wave of sound that blasted Sakura out of his grip, and through three trees, knocking her out instantly.

"A sound blast. Quite useful." Hiyaka walked towards the unconscious Sakura, and took her necklace. "Hm…she would make a nice snack for everyone. Yes, this will be quite the enjoyable little catch." With that the demon bat picked up Sakura with his monstrous large feet, and took off into the air.

OOOOO

Meanwhile, back in the cave, Tomoyo, and Kero returned from their fruitless search for their runaway friend.

"Any luck?" Tomoyo asked the yellow beast.

"If she was here, we would defiantly know it," Kero replied. Tomoyo looked down worriedly.

"Yeah you're right."

"Good riddance," Li mumbled with a scoff. Tomoyo made a fist and marched right in front Li, with an angry look on her face.

"You should be searching twice as hard we are! You're the once who made her run off in the first place! I don't see you even had to snap at her like that, all she did was offer you some food! Even though I don't know why she even bothered wasting food on a heartless monster like you!" Li's eyes widened at her words, and a look of pain crossed his face for a quick second as his mind flashbacked to a scene just like this.

"You heartless monster!" a woman screamed in his mind. "What have you done to her!" He could her the woman howling with endless amount of tears streaming from her eyes. And he saw a younger version of himself in the corner, crying silently. However, the painful expression only crossed his face for a nanosecond before he stood up, and grabbed Tomoyo by the collar.

"Don't you ever call me that again!" he growled dangerously. But Tomoyo had no look of fear in her eyes.

"Or you'll do what kill me?" she asked bravely.

"Don't think I won't do it!" Li exclaimed with his sword inches away from her neck. For minutes the two stood there, not moving, as if frozen in that moment. But after a while Li lowered his sword and turned around.

"What's the matter couldn't do it?"

"Shut up, I sense something."

"A likely story," Tomoyo replied.

"I said SHUT UP!" Li yelled, and threw his sword at her. The weapon flew passed Tomoyo's ear, and impaired itself in the cave wall. The dark haired girl felt her ear for any cuts, but there were none. She was about to say something when she saw a pair of red eyes in the darkness of the cave. The red eyes only multiplied into even more eyes until they were countless in number.

"What the heck are those things?" she wondered.

"Shit, demon bats," Li growled, pulling out his sword. "Maybe our little spat woke them up." In seconds the cave was filled with them, flying around, and letting out loud screeches that would deafen any ears. Li fired a blast of lighting, but it did almost nothing to decrease the number of bats.

"They're everywhere! Where the hell did they come from!" Kero exclaimed as he formed his shield around them.

"Outside now!" Li ordered, firing another blast of lighting at the approaching bats. The group of three rushed outside, and into the harsh rain, only to have the bats follow, and fill the sky.

"What do we do now! There's no way you can fight all of them! It's impossible!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Give us your jewels! If you do we'll let you live!" one of the demonic bats said as he circled around them. Li didn't say anything, he just looked into sky, and saw lighting flash across the sky. He pulled out of his talismans and turned to the other two.

"Whatever happens stay under than shield! You understand?" The two nodded. "And stay far from me all right?"

"What you going to do?" Kero wondered. "You don't stand a chance!" Li just grabbed the little beast, and started to squeeze him.

"Look you little stuffed animal, I'm in bad mood right now, a REALLY bad mood, now had better just do as I say before I slice you in half! You get me!"

"All right, all right already!" Kero yelled, and the young man let him go. The beast created his shield around him and Tomoyo and started to back away.

"Give us the jewels or we attack!" the bat said again.

"You these? You'll just have to pry off my cold dead fingers," Li replied.

"Fine! Then die! Brothers attack!" With those words the countless bats dove towards Li, who only had a look of pure annoyance. He placed his lighting talisman on his sword, and held it up in the air.

"Has Li gone nuts! There's no way in hell he can beat all those bats!" Kero exclaimed. The chestnut haired boy made a quick seal with his other hand, and a bolt of lighting struck him. But it looked like he felt not pain from it. The bolt of lighting only intensified, making the bats pull back because of the light.

"Now! Lighting Typhoon!" Li spun around with inhuman speed, and the lighting from the bolt separated into countless small bolts, but just as powerful, and began to engulf all of the demon bats.

"Whoa, wicked!" Tomoyo exclaimed softly.

"I had no idea he could use such an attack!" Kero muttered in awe. When the lighting bolt faded Li fell to his knees with the bodies of the demon bats surrounding him. He gritted his teeth in pain when he felt indescribable pain in his back. When he finally felt it fade away, he heard a shocked gasp from behind him.

"My….my….my brothers! All dead!" Li looked behind him, and saw a monstrous looking demon bat with Sakura under his arm.

"That creep has Sakura with him!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Damn! No wonder we couldn't find her. And right now I'm betting Li is weak from that attack he just pulled," Kero growled.

"You! You did this didn't you!" the bat shouted. Li just smirked.

"So if I did?"

"You bastard! I'll kill you, and take the jewels from you!" With that, the demon bat was in front of Li before he could even blink, and kicked him right into the rock of the cave. The young man struggled to get his feet, but the bat was too fast for him to keep with. The beast grabbed him by the head, and slammed him against the rock, making a small hole in it. He did this again, and again, until blood started ooze out from between his fingertips. The monster threw Li to the ground, and marched towards him.

"Damn it…" the amber eyed fighter growled.

"Don't think for a minute you can beat me! I can travel at the speed of sound! There's no way a mere human like you can defeat me!" Hiyaka dashed towards Li ready to finish him, when the boy got to his feet and suddenly disappear. The demon bat stopped in his tracks, stunned at his sudden speed. But before he had the chance to look for him, a green blur passed him, and grabbed Sakura.

"So you can travel at the speed of sound, so what?" Li said from behind him, with Sakura in his arms. "Light travels faster than sound." Hiyaka's body shook, and in seconds, his head rolled off his shoulders. Needless to say, Tomoyo and Kero were shocked.

"Did you see him move at all?" she asked the beast, who just shook his head.

'I get it, he still had lighting running through his body from his last attack, so he added that power to his aura to make himself travel at the speed of light for a moment. What kind of person is he?'

The hard thumbing of someone's heart, slowly awoke Sakura from her involuntary slumber. When she opened her eyes, she was met with intense amber eyes.

"Damn you're nothing but trouble," Li muttered.

OOOOO

The next morning it was a bright day with the sun out, and not a cloud in the sky. The group decided this was the best time to move out.

"Hey," Li said with his back to the two girls.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked, who was still slightly mad at Li for yesterday. Tomoyo just gave him a light glare.

"You two don't have any injuries do you?" he asked, this made the two girls' eyes widen it shock. Was he actually asking if they were all right?

"No," Sakura answered with her normal smile slowly returning.

"Good. It would be a pain in the ass to travel with two injured girls. Especially since I know how much you two complain. Oh, and one more thing. I'm…..forget it! Let's go before you here!" Tomoyo and Sakura looked at each other and smiled.

"Right! We're coming!"

"Hey! Wait up you guys!" Kero groaned.

AN: (Sigh) Besides a couple of glimpses into Li's past, this whole chapter just felt like a filler. Well at least it was a hell of a lot better than my last one. For me writing physical conflict is easier than writing emotional conflict. This is why I think the last chapter sucked so much. Which is fine since writing fights is pretty much my forte. But since there'll will be some emotional conflict in much later chapter, I had better learn to write those kinds of scenes better. Sorry about the delay, but man High School is a killer! Seriously! I am swamped with homework, projects, which take up almost the majority of time. Then, when I do have time to type, I have no idea what to write! It really sucks. (Sigh) Anyway, you aren't reading this, just to hear me complain about my school life. Here's the preview for next chapter. Which I'm hoping will be much better than the last two.

_Sakura: Next time a girl in the forest approaches us, and hires Kero to help her. _

_Li: The stuffed animal? That's a massacre waiting to happen!_

_Sakura: Hey, Kero is a lot stronger than you think Li! And I think he can pull off this job._

_Li: Oh yeah prove it. _

_Sakura: Fine, just tune in for the next chapter "Roar: The True Power of Keroberos!" See ya next time!_


	34. Roar: The True Power of Keroberos

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 34

A cool breeze passed through the trees with the leaves twirling to the ground. The sky was a clear blue with thin clouds in the sky. Light from the sun came through in small rays thanks to the thickness of the trees from above. It was clearly the kind of day to make up for the three days of rain from before. In fact there was already a week of this kind of weather, and a certain group of travelers were making full use of these kinds of days.

"Li, remind me again what I'm doing," Sakura said to her trainer while standing in the center a mess of fallen leaves that covered the ground. Red, orange, yellow, and brown completely covered the green of the grass.

"You're so stupid. I already told you four times already!" Li barked from the tree he was leaning against with his arms folded. Sakura pouted at his comment.

"Well I still don't get it!" The young man rolled his eyes, and walked over to show her again.

"It's simple you idiot. You're using your wind powers to make a ball out of these leaves, and blasting them at the tree." Sakura turned her head to the side in confusion.

"But wind only blows things doesn't it?"

"No you moron! When wind is your primary power you have to be able to use it different ways. If you don't, your attacks will become predictable and redundant. Now do it!"

"All right," Sakura groaned, and went into a stance. She put her open right palm out in front of her, and her left palm, below her chest as if she was holding a teacup. The young girl started to slowly turn her arms into a circle with her eyes closed, and a steady breath.

"Feel the wind around your body," Li instructed as he walked around her. "And imagine what you want to create with your wind." Sakura nodded slightly, and began to create a weak wind that started to blow some of the countless leaves in her direction. She could feel the wind she was creating wrap around her arms. Sakura took a deep breath, and increased the speed of the wind, by circling her arms around faster. The leaves were blown towards the young girl, and were caught in the circular whirlwind she was creating. When she felt that she had enough, Sakura placed her palms together to entrap the ball of leaves she created. The young girl snapped her eyes opened, and released the wind and leaves she gathered upon the tree in front of her.

But, much to her dismay, the leaves only shot in every direction, except in the direction of the tree. And of course, Li wasn't too supporting either.

"You idiot! You messed up again! You've been at it for a week and you still don't have it!"

"Give me a break Li!" Sakura exclaimed. "This hard!"

"If you have time to complain, you have time to try it again." A vein popped on Sakura's head in frustration.

"But I still don't understand what I'm doing wrong!" Li just rolled his eyes.

"You're just using too much energy for the release. You don't need nearly as much as you may think. Now try it again, and this time get right."

"Or else what?" Sakura asked, knowing there was always an or else with Li. Said amber haired fighter smirked.

"Or else no dinner."

"Hoe! That's too cruel!" Li just smirked, and leaped onto a tree to watch her.

"You're just stalling you know. Now get to work!" Sakura pouted, but began to gather her wind for another try, when a thought crossed her mind.

"Hey, have you seen Kero and Tomoyo?"

"I thought they went to get something to eat." At that moment a loud scream pierced through the silence of the forest. And the sound of running feet through the bushes reached the two magic users. "Damn," Li muttered. "Three guesses who that could be." Suddenly, Tomoyo, Kero, and a small little girl burst through the bushes with a strange creature behind them.

The creature had light brown fur on the top, and clear white at the bottom. It had a long body with two extensive tails swishing around it as it sniffed the air with its long nose. An extensive neck that was as long its tails supported the head. The creature's sharp fangs could be seen even with its closed mouth. Its red glazed over eyes stared at the smaller girl with a murderous intent. The monster stood on its hind legs and let out a loud low-pitched roar, that could make any lion or tiger cower in fear.

"What in the world is that thing!" Sakura exclaimed as she stared at the strange creature. The beast's small ears twitched at this, and it turned towards Sakura, with its wide mouth open, revealing its sharp fangs. At that moment a red blast of heat shot out towards Sakura, who jumped out of the way at the last minute. Before it could fire another blast, Li jumped down from his tree branch onto the creature's back. The second the monster felt him on its back, the beast began to thrash around like a wild horse in an attempt to throw off his unwilling rider. Li gripped on the fur in order to keep himself from being hurled off. He grabbed his sword, and stabbed the beast near its neck, but it didn't seem to have any effect. At that moment one of the beast's tails came up and slapped Li off of its back, and into a tree.

"Just what the hell is going on?" he thought out loud as he watched the creature approach the little girl.

"Li, are you all right?" Sakura asked. The amber eyed fighter just got to his feet, and replied with,

"I'll live." The odd creature let out another heat blast towards Tomoyo, the girl, and Kero. Instantly the yellow guardian beast formed his shield around them, but the blast was beginning to over power him.

"Hey! A little help here! Come on you guys!" Kero shouted.

"That's enough Yuida!" a voice suddenly shouted. On command, the monster stopped its attack. A man dressed in a black suit with a cane in one hand, and a whip in the other stepped out from the bushes. His top hat covered his gray hair, and his moustache went down to the corners of his mouth.

"What now?" Li muttered.

"What's a man dressed in a suit doing here the forest?" Tomoyo wondered.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Kero replied. The man turned to the little girl who was hiding behind Tomoyo, and gave her a sly grin.

"Miyuki-chan, why must we go through this everyday?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

"Shut up," the girl known as Miyuki growled. The well-dressed man only smirked, and cracked his whip on the ground. Almost instantly, the creature known as Yuida ran to its master's feet. The man got on its back, and turned to Miyuki.

"You know where I'll be in case you reconsider," and with that he and the beast dashed off.

"All right, just what the hell is going on!" Li shouted at Kero and Tomoyo.

"Why are you yelling at us!" Kero yelled back, only to be caught in Li's steel grip.

"Because most likely, you two idiots started this whole mess."

"You don't know that!" Kero shouted.

"Actually, you did Kero," Tomoyo piped in. This caused a vein to pop on the yellow beast's head.

"Ah, how did I know?" While Li was getting information from Kero, Sakura walked over to the little girl who was standing close to a tree with a look of uncertainty on her face. She was very short, she only reached the bottom of Sakura's knees, and had on a very simple tan tunic on that went down to her knees. Her black hair reached down to her waist with brown eyes that seemed to revel an older girl inside of her. Sakura stooped down to her level, and gave her a bright smile.

"You don't have to worry about us. We won't hurt you. We just want to know what's going on. Okay Miyuki-chan?" Miyuki looked up at Sakura, and simply nodded.

"Well…." She began.

"Well what happened was," Kero started. "Tomoyo and I were looking for fruits to eat, when I heard this girl scream. Then that monster burst out of nowhere. So it was obvious that she was in trouble, so I put my shield around her to help her. So that monster turned towards us, and started to chase us!"

"And that's when you ran here right?" Li asked, still having Kero in his grip.

"Yep," Tomoyo nodded.

"Now why was that creature chasing that girl in the first place?" the chestnut haired teen asked.

"He wants this jewel," Miyuki answered suddenly, holding a purple gem from her pocket. "My big brother gave it me before he went to fight for our lord. But…he was killed. This jewel is my last memento of him…"

"Where does that old man fit in?" Tomoyo wondered.

"His name is Jizia He wants it. He'll do anything for it, according to him it's worth millions. But when I refused to sell it to him, he chased me out of my village with that creature and into these woods. I've been hiding here for almost three weeks now."

"I see. I'm beginning to understand," Li said, then slammed Kero into the ground with his fist. "And because of you we're probably caught in this mess now!"

"I'm….sorry…." Kero whispered pathetically.

"Actually, no your not. He only wants the jewel. Your interference probably won't matter to him. As long as he has that beast with him, he's untouchable," Miyuki said with a downcast in her eyes. "That's why I want to hire one of you. With your powers, you could probably kill that creature and stop Jizia! What do you say?"

"Well I'm sure all of us will be willing to help anyway we can," Tomoyo replied, but Miyuki shook her head.

"No. I only want one of you. And I chose, him," the young girl pointed to Kero, making the others have looks of surprise.

"Huh? Kero? You want to hire Kero?" Sakura repeated.

"Yep. That's what I said."

"Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into. This stuffed animal probably couldn't beat a puppy dog!" Li exclaimed.

"Yeah! Hey, what a minute!" the yellow beast growled. "And what makes you think I can't do it!" Li just chuckled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're pathetically weak for one thing," the young man said. "I could beat you just my index finger."

"Yeah, and Kero you're size doesn't really help either," Sakura added.

"Hey! Just whose side are you on!"

"So why do you want to hire Kero-chan?" Tomoyo wondered.

"I saw that he's able to make shields, and that's the kind of power I'm looking for. My guess is, if I take out that creature of his, Jizia will be helpless. And he'll leave me alone so I'll be able to go back to my village!"

"And just what makes you think a kid like you can down a full grown monster like that?" Li asked. Miyuki just gave him a sly smirk.

"You think my big brother left this world without teaching me a thing or two about weaponry? He taught me to shoot arrows, and I figure if I can one in between the creature's eyes it'll die. But the kinds of arrows I use require me to be relatively close to my opponent. So there's no way I would be able to pull off my shot while dodging that heat blast, which is why I need him. So will you do it Kero-chan?"

"Of course I will! I'll prove to all of you that Keroberos Guardian Beast of four of the seven deadly jewels, is no weakling! When do we start Miyuki?"

"Tomorrow. Meet at the clearing not to far from here, and we'll move out."

"Great! I'll be there."

"All right. Be well rested."

"There's no way in hell you can do this job," Li stated when Miyuki left. "You're way too weak."

"What! I'm a guardian beast! This job should be no problem for me!" Kero declared. Li just scoffed, and walked past him.

"Yeah you keep yourself that." The small yellow beast growled as he watched Li walk off. It was true he may not be as powerful as him, he might not have the same powers, but that didn't mean he was useless!

"Kero-chan, Li's right. You can't do this by yourself. You should ask us to help you," Sakura said.

"No! Miyuki hired me! Not you, not Li, me! And I'll show all of you that I can do this!"

"But did you see how big and strong that creature Jizia has with him?" Tomoyo asked.

"Of course I did! But that doesn't mean I can't do anything! I'll show you guys! Keroberos doesn't fear anything!" At that moment, the little beast's stomach let out a loud roar, Tomoyo and Sakura sweatdropped. "But I am afraid of an empty stomach. Hey Tomoyo, do you still have any of those fruits left?"

"Oh Kero," the dark haired girl giggled.

OOOOO

That night Li sat under a tree with a small fire roaring in front of him, and Sakura in the middle of a field of leaves practicing. Tomoyo was near her giving her some encouragement as she practiced. The dark blue sky was filled with the stars and the moon shining down on them.

'It'll be a full moon soon,' Li thought as he looked up at it. 'When that happens we had better not get into any major trouble.'

"Hey Li, don't you think you were a little hard on Kero this afternoon?" Sakura asked as she gathered her wind.

"No. He's in over his head. There's no way he can do this."

"By the way, where is he anyway?" Tomoyo wondered.

"The last I saw, he was attempting to train his shield to get stronger. Emphasis on attempting," Li replied.

"Really Li, don't you think you could lighten up a little bit? What's your deal with Kero anyway? Isn't he supposed to be some kind of great beast or something?" Sakura asked. The young man just scoffed.

"He's no Keroberos. The Keroberos I grew up knowing was a powerful beast that heeded to no one but his master Clow Reed. His strength could surpass a lion, and his speed made him faster than any cheetah. His fur was stronger than any type of armor. No normal sword or arrow could pierce through him. He wasn't a small yellow midget who craved sweets, and complained about every little thing."

"Compared to what you heard, it's no wonder you're so harsh on him," Tomoyo said. Not too far away, the leaves on the trees scattered as Kero created another of shield, only bigger than his last one. The little beast fell on his small knees trying to catch his breath, with small beads of sweat on his brow.

'That was my tenth shield, but I just can't hold it long enough. I gotta get better. I'll prove to that kid, Sakura, and Tomoyo that Keroberos is no one's stooge I'll live up to my name even if it kills me.' With his will refreshed, Kero floated upwards, and created another shield. The little beast gave it his all to make it bigger and stronger than the last one he did. He saw the yellow orb grow almost another foot in diameter before it close back into him. Kero smirked at his progress. 'At this rate my shield will be able to cover an entire town.'

Further away Miyuki fired an arrow from her makeshift bow, only to have it miss the bulls-eye on the tree she was aiming at by a hair. She let out a frustrated growl before notching another arrow and firing again.

'I can't settle for almost. I have to get it straight on,' she thought as she loaded another arrow. For both Kero and Miyuki it was a long night.

OOOOO

The next day, Kero moved out while Sakura was training, Li was watching, and Tomoyo was making a fire. When he reached the clearing he saw that Miyuki was already there with her bow in her hands and her set of arrows on her back.

"Are you ready?" she asked. Kero nodded. "All right, then follow me." As Kero followed her, he couldn't help but think what a brave girl Miyuki was. She was small just like him, but she was still willing to go up against a creature that was almost four times her size. He smirked at how alike they were. And when they succeeded they would show everyone that just because they were small, that didn't mean they were helpless. Eventually Miyuki led them to a ledge that was covered in bushes and trees. She pointed to the bottom, and when Kero looked, he saw Jizia lounging next to his creature, which was asleep.

"Can't you get it from here?" the yellow beast whispered.

"No. It's too far away. We need to get closer," Miyuki replied and started to slowly head down the ledge.

"Are you crazy!" Kero hissed. "What if you wake them up?"

"What if I don't? Come on, as long as you're with me I know I can do it. I have faith in you Kero-chan." Kero just sighed and followed her. At the foot of the ledge the two quietly moved through the grass, stepping over every dry leaf and twig as they went. (Well only Miyuki was doing that, since Kero can fly.) Miyuki stopped at a set of bushes that were right in front the monster's head, and stooped to her knees, loading an arrow.

"Are you sure about this?" Kero asked worriedly. "This is right in his field of vision after all. If you miss and he wakes up, we're done for." The girl just gave him a reassuring smile.

"That's what your shields are for remember? Now shhh." Kero nodded, and allowed her to take aim. She pulled back on the string, but had to move her to get a better view. Unfortunately her hair brushed past Kero's nose, making it tickle. Kero tried to ignore it, but he couldn't stop his body from reacting to it.

"Ah….Ah….Choo!" The sudden loud sound made the creature's eyes snap open, and threw off Miyuki's aim just as she let go of the string. The arrow flew past Yuida and pinned Jizia's top hat into a tree, awaking him instantly.

"Who's there!" the man yelled, and saw Miyuki and Kero.

"Oh shit…" Kero muttered. Without proper order, Yuida fired the blast of heat at the small ones, but Kero quickly formed his shield around them. The creature cut off its attack and rammed the two into a tree with its head, popping Kero's shield like a bubble.

"Run!" the girl shouted.

"That's an obvious decision!"

"Yuida! Don't let them get away!" Jizia ordered with a crack from his whip. The monstrous creature suddenly cut them off with a blast of heat, and knocked them into the ground with swipe of his tail. Miyuki grabbed another arrow and tried to aim, but her hands shaking uncontrollably, her breath was out of control, and it felt like her heart would burst from her chest. When she saw the monster charge towards them, she released the arrow, only to have miss by a long shot. Yuida whirled around sending his tail towards them again. The shield formed around them, but it could not withstand the sheer force from such a tail, and they went flying across the ground. Miyuki tried another arrow, but it missed once again. Yuida let out a roar before firing the heat blast at them. Kero once again tried his shield, but the blast was too powerful for him to keep back, and soon the two were blasted backwards.

"Tsk, Tsk, Miyuki. If only you had just given me that gem from the start, then maybe you would have lived," Jizia chuckled. "But now that resist, I have no choice but to kill you, and you're little friend. Yuida, finish it." The little girl reached for her bow, but it snapped in two, she looked to her right and saw Kero knocked out. Tears began to roll down her eyes when she realized this was the end for her. She clutched the purple gem tightly as she thought of her brother.

'Big brother, at least I'll be seeing you soon,' she thought curling up into a ball. Not too far away Li, Sakura, and Tomoyo watched.

"I told that stuffed animal he was in over his head," Li muttered.

"Save the ridicule for later! Right now you guys have to save Kero-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Sakura nodded, and formed her weapon from a stick. Li just sighed and drew his sword.

"Damn stuffed animal," he muttered. Kero began to come to, and saw the monster heading towards Miyuki. He tried to get up, but his little body just wouldn't respond. His eyes widened when he saw the beast open its wide mouth for the final blow.

'No! Is this….is this the true limit of my strength! It can't be! Maybe Li was right, maybe I am just a dumb stuffed animal. No! I have to save her, I have to! She was the only one who believed in me! I can't let her down. I won't let her down!' As he got up, he suddenly heard a voice in his head.

"Keroberos, your duty is to protect," the voice whispered.

'Protect what?'

"Anything that is important to you. That is when your true power shall awaken!"

"Hey you ugly piece of shit!" Kero exclaimed. "You get away from her!"

'Stupid stuffed toy,' Li thought as he and Sakura ran down the ledge. 'This is no time to be talking big.'

"And just who are you to stop my creature?" Jizia asked with amusement, knowing that such a small being was no match for Yuida.

"I am Keroberos! Guardian Beast of four of the Seven Deadly Jewels!" At that moment, Kero started to glow white. His wings extended until they completely covered him.

"What's going on with Kero?" Sakura wondered. When the wings parted, it revealed a large lion like creature where Kero once was. The new beast let out a loud roar that would put even the mightiest of lions to shame.

"What the hell?" Li muttered.

"Is that what Kero really looks like?" Sakura asked in awe. Without a second more of waiting the new form of Kero pounced on Yuida, taking it to the ground instantly. The two beasts rolled across the ground, each trying to get in a bite or a scratch on the other. Keroberos kicked Yuida off of him with his hind legs, and instantly jumped on top. The monster sank its teeth in one of Kero's paws, but the once yellow beast only winced. Kero slashed open Yuida's stomach with one powerful swipe of his claws. Yuida fired a blast of heat as its counter, but Keroberos flew up into the air to avoid it.

"Is that Kero-chan?" Tomoyo whispered. Yuida fired another heat blast but Kero avoided all of them with ease in the air. The guardian beast swooped down, and gave the monster a swift kick from one of hind legs, then another. Kero kept on kicking his opponent as his floated in the air, until he spun around and gave Yuida one final kick that sent him to the ground.

"No!" Jizia exclaimed. "Get up Yuida! That's an order!" With a crack from his whip, Yuida got back onto its feet, but was unbalanced because it was feeling the loss of blood from the stomach wound. Kero let out a loud roar before pouncing again. Yuida quickly turned to side, and knocked Kero into the ground with its two tails. Keroberos snarled before going on his feet. The monstrous creature attacked with its two tails again, but Kero quickly ducked, and entrapped the tails with his steel like bite. Yuida let out a screech of pain before turning on its own body to face Kero, and fire a heat blast. Keroberos swiftly took to the air again. Without waiting a second more Yuida let out a powerful blast of heat that Kero could not dodge even if he wanted to.

"Uh-oh. That monster was feeling that it was going to die soon, but wants to take the stuffed animal with him," Li said.

"Is there anything at all that Kero can do?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Well…." Kero, seeing there was no other way out, took a deep breath, and unleashed a fierce breath of fire. The two blasts collided in mid-air with both just as powerful as the other. But eventually Kero's fire overpowered Yuida's heat, and the monster was soon engulfed in the powerful flames.

"Noooo!" Jizia bellowed as he watched his creature burn alive. Keroberos suddenly swooped down, and double kicked the greedy man into a tree knocking him out instantly. When the guardian beast landed, he let out a loud roar of victory.

"So this is Keroberos," Sakura said in awe. Kero walked over to Sakura and Li who were both in a state of shock. Sakura's eyes were widened, and her jaw was dropped. Li just stood there with his hands in his sleeves with only mild look of shock, but it was still there. Sakura was a little fearful of this new Kero. What if he didn't know who they were? Would they have to fight him?

"So what do you think now huh!" the beast suddenly said. "I kicked butt!" Sakura mentally slapped her forehead. No matter what form he takes, he's still Kero.

"You wanna know what I think?" Li asked. Kero nodded his excitedly. "I think….you're still a stuffed animal!"

"What! What the hell! Didn't you see me, I totally kicked their asses! And you still think I'm stuffed animal!" Kero shouted.

"That's what I said."

"Damn kid!"

"Who are you calling kid stuffed animal!" Sakura just sighed. And no matter what form Kero takes, Li will probably still think he's a stuffed animal.

"Kero-chan! Hold still I need to get this!" Tomoyo exclaimed excitedly as she started to draw on a notepad. (She doesn't have her camera yet, so she has to get this down some how.)

"Kero-chan?" Miyuki said from behind him. "Thank you, very much." Kero just grinned.

"Aw don't mention it."

"Hold still!" Tomoyo ordered.

"Sorry!" Li just rolled his eyes as he walked off.

"Damn stuffed animal."

"What did you say!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to hold still!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Sakura just giggled all this excitement, and it wasn't even noon yet.

AN: So appears Kero's true form. This chapter was merely just a way for me to get it out somehow. Sorry if the storyline for this one wasn't all that great, but I needed some reason for Kero to do something on his own for once. And now that he has his true form to fight in, Kero will have more roles in later chapters. I mean before it was virtually impossible for me to give him a bigger role before since he was so small, but now I throw whatever I want at him. Sorry for taking so long again, I'm hopping to get the next chapter out sooner than this one. Hopefully anyway. Well without further ado, here the next chapter preview.

_Sakura: Next time we're attacked by three girls who say that Li killed their father, but Li says he has no idea what they're talking about._

_Tomoyo: That's not even the worse part, they're really strong too. Probably just as strong as Li, maybe even stronger. _

_Sakura: Just who's lying and who's telling the truth in this encounter? You'll just have to find out in, "The Three Devil Sisters" Next time on Seven Deadly Jewels. _


	35. The Three Devil Sisters

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 35

Leaves tumbled through the air as a cold wind blew through. Thick white clouds covered most of the sun, their shadows cast upon the already cool forest. The air itself was chilly, and even just standing made one feel cold. As they walked, Sakura shivered even with the jacket Chiharu got for her. She could feel the tips of her fingers becoming numb, and she could see her breath even when she breathed out through her nose. She looked over to Kero who didn't look like he was as cold as her. But that made sense, since he had fur. Tomoyo didn't look as though she was faring any better than she was. She could tell her friend was just as cold as she was. Li didn't look as though he was cold, but he rarely showed what he was truly feeling, so for all Sakura knew he could be freezing right now. She doubted it though.

"Man! Just how long have we been in this stupid forest! I'm ready for some scenery that isn't green!" Kero complained. A rock suddenly collided with head making he meet the ground with a thud.

"Shut up! We've only been here for a week and ten days," Li growled.

"That's ten whole days! It feels as if this forest will never end!" Li just knocked the beast into the ground with his fist.

"Shut up, and keep moving!"

"You're lucky I don't just transform right now, and kick your ass!" The amber haired fighter just scoffed.

"You win one battle yesterday and you suddenly think you can take me? HA, that'll be the day."

"You…. little…!" Kero growled as he gritted his teeth.

"Now, now," Tomoyo said. "Kero, I'm sure there'll be a town soon, and Li, stop being so mean to Kero-chan. He has gotten stronger you know." Li just waved her off, and scoffed again. The rest of the morning was spent with Li and Kero arguing, small conversations between Sakura and Tomoyo. It was the same old, same old for the small group, but today would probably be their most eventful days so far.

OOOOO

Meanwhile in the same forest there was a wooden fort in a clearing. There was an outer wall that circled around the inter parts of the fort, and different kinds of buildings, and other structures with soldiers moving about following orders from their superiors. In the main building, there was a meeting occurring. In a dark room there was a long table in a half circular form, with different heads gathered around it. In the center was Erim with three other figures on his side that were staring intently at the three in the center. The three figures were different heights, and different styles of hair, but were covered by the darkness. The only feature about the three that could be shown were their eyes. One had cold blue eyes the other had piercing yellow eyes, and the final one had intense red eyes.

"We've found him. He and his small group are in area 34. They will be out of our jurisdiction once they reach the end of the forest, which will be no later than tomorrow. Do NOT allow them to leave alive, or with the three jewels that they possess. Do you understand," Erim explained.

"Why did it take so long to locate him?" the pair of blue eyes asked coldly. "If we were doing this on our own, it wouldn't have taken us so long."

"That's right," the yellow eyes agreed. "You old farts took too damn long."

"You're lucky we don't kill all of you," the red eyes threatened. Erim just chuckled.

"Temper, temper you three. You're lucky we even allowed you three in our service. And as for why it took us so long, this group moves around often. So it was hard to pinpoint their exact location. Now go. I want the jewels in front of me by this time tomorrow. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" the three replied, and filed out of the room.

OOOOO

It was midday when the small group decided to stop for a small break. It was near a small stream with a few rocks to sit on. Sakura and Tomoyo built a fire in order to warm them at least a little, Li just lay on a branch, and Kero took a nap inside of Sakura's jacket pocket.

"You cold Sakura?" Tomoyo asked as she placed her hands closer to the fire.

"A little bit. But it isn't nearly as cold as that one time we were up on that mountain. Remember?" Tomoyo just giggled at the memory.

"Oh yeah with those killer monkey things. What were they called? Oh yeah the Drazzil. I would have done a quick sketch if my fingers weren't so numb. I felt like I was going to become ice that time!" The two girls shared a laugh as they stared at the fire.

"I need to write my dad soon. I haven't written him in a while. There's so much that's happened so far that I want to tell him about." Tomoyo just giggled.

"I'm not sure if your dad, especially your brother, would want to know you've been running from killers, fighting demons, capturing sprits, helping to calm angry ghosts, and finding out that your small yellow stuffed animal was alive, and could transform into a bigger, and more dangerous form." Sakura let out laugh too, when she imagined her brother's reaction to all this. He was so overprotective.

"They would want me home right away," she laughed. "But I don't want to go home yet. In fact I can't."

"Why's that? For the adventure?" Tomoyo wondered. Sakura shook her head.

"That's one of the reasons. But mostly I want to learn more about my mom."

"Your mom?" Tomoyo repeated. Sakura nodded.

"Up until around two months ago, I didn't know a thing about my mom. But there are so many people who seem to know so much about her. I want to know more about her; in fact I'm a little ashamed that I know so little about her. Dad doesn't talk about her much. It must be too painful for him to talk about. I mean she did die pretty young."

"Yeah at 25. How old was she when she married your dad again?"

"17 I think. I'm not sure exactly. That's one of the things I want to know about her."

"But didn't your dad say it was some kind of disease?"

"Yeah, but it feels like there's more to story than just that. What made her so sick in the first place? And did she know that Kero was alive when she gave her to me? And remember Risuba?" Tomoyo nodded.

"That dark priestess woman."

"Yeah, she said mom was in love with a guy named Xia Lang."

"Really? What made them break up?" Sakura shrugged.

"That's one of things I want to find out."

"What are you two talking about over here?" Li asked suddenly from behind them, making the two girls jump in surprise.

"Oh nothing," Tomoyo replied with a smile. "Just remembering some stuff." Sakura nodded. Then something hit her.

"Hey Li, I meant to ask your earlier, but I keep forgetting," she started. Li turned his uncaring gaze towards her.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Do you know someone named Xia Lang?" At that moment Li's eyes widened in shock, and surprise. So much so that Sakura and Tomoyo were able to notice. His hands started to shake slightly, and seemed his eyes were completely zoned out.

'Father?' Li thought.

"Li? What's wrong? You okay?" Tomoyo asked waving her hand in front of his blank face. Li suddenly grabbed her wrist, and pulled it away from his face. He closed his eyes, and regained that normal cold face they were so used to by now.

"It's nothing. And no I don't know him. Never even heard of him," he replied and walk towards the tree he was laying in before.

"Never heard of him? That's a big lie. Did you see how he reacted?" Tomoyo asked Sakura, who nodded.

"Yeah he must know him. Which means, maybe he know something about my mom too!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly. As Li was walking, he suddenly froze in his spot. His eyes were rapidly looking in every direction with his hand slowly reaching for the hilt of his sword.

"Li? What's wrong?" Sakura asked as she looked at the frozen young man. But he quickly shushed her.

"I sense something," he replied. Sakura was about ask what he was talking about when she felt a cold feeling in her stomach. It seemed her blood was frozen over, and she couldn't help but shake at the powerful aura she was feeling. No, it wasn't one, but three heading towards them. The trees started to rustle as if something moving around in it. Suddenly something burst out from the trees. It was what looked like a scythe blade attached to a long chain. Near the bottom of the small scythe was a wooden handle that was mostly likely for someone to hold. The weapon came straight for Li, who quickly slashed it away with one slash of his sword.

"Child's play!" he scoffed. As soon as the blade was retracted back into the trees, a blast of flower petals shot towards them, blowing them all back. As the small group struggled to keep their footing, the chain scythe came around again. Li tried to knock it away, only to be blow into the trees, along with Sakura and Tomoyo.

"What's happening?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"We're being attacked you idiot!" Li exclaimed harshly as he got up.

"Yeah but by who?" Tomoyo wondered. A laugh suddenly echoed throughout that forest that seemed to be everywhere around them.

"I can't believe it was this easy to sneak up on them. This will be easier than I thought."

"Don't underestimate them," another voice spoke up. "They were the ones who killed Risuba."

"Keh! That old hag? We could probably beat her in half the time in took them. Maybe even shorter," a third voice chuckled. Li growled.

"Show yourself you cowards! If it will be so easy for you to kill us, why don't you prove it, by fighting face-to-face!" he yelled at the trees. The three voices laughed simultaneously.

"Did you hear that sis? He want us to show ourselves."

"Why don't we grant his wish." A whoosh of wind blew through at that moment, and the group quickly shielded their eyes. When they opened them, they were met with three young girls in front of them. Each were different heights with different styles of hair and color. The tallest had long straight blue hair, with cold blue eyes to match. Her hair covered one of her eyes, and the only visible one glared at Li with great hatred. On her back was a broad sword that looked like it could cut through boulders. She wore black leather gloves and blue short shorts that exposed her long creamy white legs. Her choice of footwear were a pair of long black leather boots that went up to the bottom of her knees. Her top choice was a black belly shirt that only covered the most important part of her chest. If she wasn't carrying a sword, and had eyes filled with hate, Li would have guessed she was some kind of weird stripper or something.

The second tallest had blonde hair tied in two pigtails, and the piercing yellow eyes to match. In her hands was the chain scythe that attacked them earlier, but at the end of the chain was a weight in the shape of a sphere. It didn't look like much, but there was no telling what it could do. This girl wore a simple yellow gi with some odd insignia on the front and back. As footwear her choice were a pair of simple wooden sandals with raised heels, and circular metal in the center of the heels. Li could tell she was the more close up fighting type.

The last one was the most peculiar. Instead of having red hair that matched her red eyes, she had pink hair in a high bun. She had what looked like chopsticks to hold it together. And unlike the other two, how she was dressed did not imply the notation of fighting. It was a beautiful summer kimono with a flower design all around it. In her hands was a simple fan with a art design in the front. To Li she looked like a castle princess on her way to a marriage proposal. However, not one to underestimate his opponents, Li went into a stance that showed he was ready to fight.

"Just who the hell are you guys?" he asked coldly. The blonde just chuckled.

"Did you hear that sister? He doesn't remember us." The pink haired girl laughed as well.

"I didn't know his memory this bad. I just hope his fighting isn't this bad."

"I don't know you guys. It was pretty easily to sneak up on him," the blue haired girl said with a smirk. Li was getting irked. Were they here to fight or what?

"I'll ask again, who are you?"

"I didn't think you would forget, because we certainly didn't," the blue haired one replied, her voice will with spite.

"Forget what?"

"You killed our father that's what Syaoran!" pink haired one shouted.

"You killed their father!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "How could you Li?"

"Are you really that evil!" Sakura yelled.

"Hey! I have no idea what they're talking about!" Li defended himself. "I don't even know what their father looks like!"

"Keh, don't lie. All three of us saw you that day!" the blue haired girl yelled. "You decapitated our father in our very own home! You are nothing more than just a monster!"

"How many times do I have to say, I have no idea what the hell you bitches are talking about! I didn't kill your damn father!" the chestnut haired fighter exclaimed. "I don't even know you for god's sake!" The blonde growled, and hurled the sphere shaped weight at him.

"Liar!" she exclaimed. Li quickly leapt into the air, and saw the weight make a hole in the ground as if it were nothing. He looked up and saw a sliver blur heading straight for his head. Instantly the young man put up his sword to defend, but when the blur collided with his sword, it felt as if four-ton bricks were slammed on him, and he fell to ground because of the incredible weight. As he fell, a sudden blast of flower petals, made him hurl right over Sakura and Tomoyo's head and slide roughly across the ground.

"Humph! That was easily," the eldest scoffed as she landed with a soft thump. Sakura's eyes widened at her speed.

'I didn't even see her move. And yet despite that big sword, she was able to move as if it wasn't even there! And that blonde. That weight at the end of here chain, it made a hole in ground easily. And I didn't see it, but I could have sworn that girl with the pink hair let out some kind of strange aura when she waved her fan. Who are these girls?' the emerald eyed girl thought. Li let out a groan as he got up.

"Don't count me out just yet." The three girls chuckled.

"Oh look, he still wants to fight," the blonde laughed softly.

"Let's just teach him a lesson again," the pink haired girl said with her fan ready. Sakura couldn't take it anymore. At this rate Li would be beaten badly. She could tell these were no ordinary girls. At that moment, Kero decided to wake up.

"What's going on?" he asked with a yawn. Tomoyo took Kero out, and explained the whole situation so far. Kero instantly transformed into Keroberos. "Another fight? That's fine with me. Bring 'em on!" Sakura nodded in agreement, and formed her staff with a stick.

"Stay out of this," Li growled. The three girls just laughed again.

"Looks like Syaoran needs some help. From a weak little girl, and a hapless beast," the blue haired girl chuckled. "Fine. You two play with them, I'll take Syaoran." The two other girls nodded reluctantly, obviously wanting to fight Li as well.

"I'm telling you two to stay out of this! I can take them," the amber-eyed fighter growled again. Sakura shook her head.

"No Li, we're doing this weather you like it or not," she declared. Li just rolled her eyes and focused on the blue haired girl, who just smirked.

"Let the battles begin." In the blink of an eye, Li attacked with a fast overhead strike, but the blue haired girl drew her sword, and took Li's blow with ease. Then she just as easily pushed him off, making him slide across the ground. Kero and Sakura ran towards the two remaining girls who just chuckled.

"Shall I?" the red eyed girl asked. The blonde nodded. And the red-eyed girl waved her fan, making countless flower petals swirl around them, and making them disappear.

"What the-!" Li exclaimed when he saw such magic. That one distraction made him vulnerable, and his opponent acted upon it with a fast side slash. The young man swiftly jumped back the minute he saw it, just barely avoiding it. Li scowled when he saw a small slash mark on his robes.

"Not bad. But not good either," blue haired girl said.

"Who the hell are you!" he shouted.

"Don't you remember? Well if you don't I'll refresh you're memory. I am Tomoko. Tomoko Serika. And my sisters and I are after you're head!"

"If you want it so bad, you'll have to work for it!" With that said, Li dashed towards the blue haired girl named Tomoko, who readied her sword as well. When they were close enough, the two swords collided with a loud

CLANG!

OOOOO

When the flower petals subsided, Sakura and Tomoyo found themselves in a wide-open field with a lake on the side, and trees with countless cherry blossoms blooming. In fact all around them, there were flowers, in kinds of colors, and shapes. There types that Sakura and Tomoyo have never seen or heard about before. The two girls looked at the pink haired girl with suspicion in their eyes. Their opponent just opened her fan and placed it over her mouth, and gave the two girls an innocent look.

"What?"

"Where did you take us?" Sakura demanded to know as she went into a stance. "And who are you!"

"I am Yumi. Yumi Serika. And welcome to my world!" With a wave of her fan countless petals from the flowers blew towards the girls. Sakura dug her back foot into the ground in order to keep herself up, and started to spin her staff creating a wind that overpowered the petals, and sent them back to the sender. Yumi waved her fan again making the petals stop, and fall to the grass. "Not bad."

"Tomoyo, get back. This'll get ugly." The dark haired girl nodded, and ran towards a rock that was far enough for her not to get directly involved but close enough for her to see everything. As the two women stared at each other, everything seemed to freeze. Flower petals began to circle around Yumi, and a visible wind swirled around Sakura. Just as Tomoyo blinked, the two were off.

OOOOO

Kero stared at his new surroundings. He was in the center of an even denser forest than the one they were in before. His opponent stood a few feet across from him, twirling the weight end of the chain scythe as if it was a toy. Kero let out a deep growl, this was going to be a lot harder than his last fight he could tell.

"Who are you? What do you want with Li?" he asked.

"My name is Ami. Ami Serika. And I want nothing more than the head of your murderous friend," she growled, but not loosing focus about twirling her chain scythe.

"Well as long as you're fighting me, you won't get very far!" Kero declared. Ami just scoffed.

"Spare me, you just look like a beast that all roar, and no bite." Kero growled and ran towards the girl with his claws drawn, and his fangs ready to sink into her flesh. Despite the fact that an enrage beast was rushing her, Ami didn't show any signs of concern. Instead she suddenly stopped twirling her chain scythe, and hurled the sphere weight at him. Kero instantly jumped back, only to find that the weight had made a small but deep hole in the ground. Kero simply ran past this and charged towards the blonde. Suddenly a great force smashed him to the side, making him crash through four trees at once. Kero looked up and saw Ami retract the weight and began to twirl it around her again. Kero could feel with that one attack, two of his ribs had broken, and this was just the beginning. Yep, this defiantly would be harder than his last fight.

OOOOO

Li swiftly dodged a downward strike from Tomoko, and ducked under a horizontal slash to his head. The young man stepped forward and thrust his sword out, only to have it parried and Tomoko's broadsword come down towards him. Li flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the powerful blow, and shot forward. Straight sword met with broadsword, and the two owners struggled to gain the upper hand as their swords were locked together.

"What the hell are you doing this for!" Li growled.

"Don't play dumb! You took away the only parent we had!" Tomoko shouted.

"What the hell are you talking about! For the last time I didn't kill you're father!" The blue haired young woman let out a frustrated growl, and much to Li's surprise took one hand off of her sword and raised her gloved hand up to her ear.

"I've had enough of your damn lies!" Before Li could react, her fist met with his face and what felt like the force 10 elephants sent him flying back into the trees with blood flying through the air as he flew. The young man landed with a loud unpleasant THUD!

'Now I get it,' he thought as he struggled to get to his feet. 'Her power doesn't come from the actual sword, or the skill she uses, but the raw strength she gains from wielding it. Her punch is just about the equivalent the broadsword itself.' The young man spat out a tooth and rose to his feet. Tomoko just smirked.

"Not too many people can get up that quickly from being on the receiving end of one of my punches. But then again that was just a love tap."

"A love tap. Right," Li replied sarcastically. Amber met cold blue as the two fighters readied their swords for another round. Li slowly placed one foot forward, trying to anticipate her next move. Tomoko did the same as she pulled her sword back to next to her waist. The young man quickly took note of that as he planned his next move.

'Now that I know she can attack with her hands as well, that makes her even more dangerous. This also gives her a wider variety of attack combos. And the worse part is, she can make them up right on the spot, which isn't good on my part.' Li looked at her stance and position at which her sword was as he planned. 'Judging by her stance and the position of her sword, it looks like she's going for a quick horizontal slash. I'll just have to try to dodge. When she misses that's when she's the most vulnerable.'

Li dashed towards the blue haired swordswoman, who with speed that he could barely keep up with, attacked with a horizontal slash. The amber-eyed fighter stepped back, the attack just grazing his robes, but the girl raised her fist again ready for another punch. When Li realized that she had set up just to get close, he quickly moved his head to the side, but Tomoko suddenly charged in, and her knee collided with his stomach. The young man coughed out blood as he stepped back clutching his stomach.

"This is man who killed my father? Keh, what a joke. You're nothing but a weakling."

'Damn it! I didn't expect her to be this fast!' Li thought as he got to his feet. Tomoko just laughed.

"Stubborn one aren't you. Oh well, at least I get to make you suffer, before I take my revenge." Li just spat.

"Don't be so sure of yourself just because you got in two lucky hits. This fight has started, and I'm just getting warmed up!"

"Fine then! On Guard!" With those words spoken, the two swordfighters swords collided with another loud

CLANG!

AN: Wow! This has to be the quickest update in this fic so far. In fact this is my quickest update ever. Usually I wait like week or two before starting a new chapter in a fanfiction just to get a chance to read all the reviews that come in. But today since I had no homework, it's a holiday tomorrow, and I wanted to write this arc ever since the end of the Risuba arc, I decided to get started after my 7'Th review. In fact I just started this afternoon, and it's around midnight now. So I wrote this entire chapter in one day's time believe it or not. I just had a sudden urge to write this chapter, and once I started I just couldn't stop! It's weird. Oh well I'm sure you guys certainly aren't complaining since you didn't have to wait a month or two for one chapter. Now I'm not sure if this will ever happen again, but whatever. I'm just happy I didn't get writers block in the middle of this chapter. That's what always takes me so long. I suddenly get stuck in the middle of the chapter and decide to take a break. Which will last until the next week, and then the next week. And then before I realize it, a month has passed, and I still don't have anything. (Sigh) But once again you guys aren't complaining. Originally I wanted this to be a short three-chapter arc, but now I'm shooting for five. Here's hoping I can do it. Anyway, here's the preview for the next chapter! Oh and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

_Sakura: While Li struggles with Tomoko in a deadly sword duel, Kero has to find a way to defeat Ami's odd chain scythe fighting style. And I have to face Yumi's flower technique. With such strong opponents, can we find a way to defeat them? _

_Tomoyo: And what made these three sisters come to believe Li killed their father anyway? _

_Sakura: You'll just have to find out in "Devil Abilities" Next time on Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya then!_


	36. Devil Abilities

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 36

The wind lightly blew through the forest, which only increased the tension between Li and the blue haired girl in front of him, Tomoko. She and her two sisters were accusing him of killing their father, but if he could remember one thing, it was the amount of people he had killed, and their father was not on that list. Unless he had killed him without knowing who is family was, that was how it usually went. But if he had killed him, why is it only now they were coming after him? He just rolled his eyes. He would have to figure all this out after he beat Tomoko, and her sisters. Amber met with cold blue, but neither of them moved. They were both looking for an opening. At that moment, a leaf snapped off of a tree branch, and gently began twirling to the ground as if dancing with the air around it. The second it touched the ground, Li and Tomoko suddenly became blurs as they began their duel.

Li dodged a downward sword strike, and countered with a horizontal slash towards her neck, hopping to end this quickly. Tomoko quickly bent backwards letting the sword swing past her, and came in with her knee. Remembering her unusual strength, Li swiftly flipped backwards. As he moved through the air, he twisted his body into a side position, and struck the blue haired girl on the side of her head, making her slide across the ground. The young man twisted his body again so that he would land on his feet. All of this occurred in less than three seconds.

"Not bad," Tomoko muttered. "At least now I know that I can't keep playing around with you."

"Never should have played around with me at the start."

"True. But at least now I know that my father's killer can actually fight."

"How many times do I have it to say it, I didn't kill your father damn it!"

"Stop lying. I've heard that phrase enough for one day. My sisters and I will kill you and take our revenge. Then, take the jewels in you possession. And maybe…" she added with a smirk. "We'll kill your friends that were with you. But then again, they're probably dead right now anyway, my sisters aren't your ordinary fighters." Li just spat.

"Quit flatting yourself. There's no way in a million years that I'd let myself be killed by a bunch stupid girls. Especially the ones accusing me of something I didn't do."

"I know that you did it! My sisters and I, we all saw what you did him! And even if it costs my life, I will avenge him!" Li narrowed his eyes when he realized her aura was increasing. It was official; she wasn't going to hold back anymore. Neither was he.

The moment he blinked, Tomoko rushed towards him with speed he almost lost sight of. Li jumped back as soon as he saw a sliver blur aimed for his head. The ground erupted with rock, dirt, and dust the moment the broad sword collided with it. When the dust cleared, there was a large hole where the sword had hit. Yep, she defiantly wasn't going to go easy on him. But that fact only made the fight all the more exciting to him. Tomoko lifted her sword into an attack position, and didn't even wait another second before going on the offensive again. Li's eyes narrowed when he saw the blue blur coming straight towards him. Two sliver blurs moved through the air, and collided with a loud CLANG!

OOOOO

Sakura gripped her staff as she stared at Yumi, who just held her fan over her mouth waving it slightly. Emerald met with red as the two girls, waited for the other to make a move. After two minutes of stillness, Yumi sighed and lowered her fan. Sakura raised her eyebrow.

"Well if it's all the same for you, I'd like to get started as soon as possible. I don't want my sister having all the fun killing Li."

"And what makes you think that I'll let you beat me? In fact, what makes you think your sisters can beat Li?" Sakura replied with confidence. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Naïve little girl," she muttered, and sighed again. "Well I'd love to have a lovely conversation with you, but talk is overrated. Now let us begin." With that said, Yumi suddenly disappeared. Sakura's eyes widened.

"What! Where'd she go!"

"Sakura behind you!" Tomoyo yelled. The young girl looked over he shoulder, only to see a fast moving blur heading her way. Without thinking, she quickly ducked, barely managing to avoid it. The amber haired girl spun around, and swung her staff towards Yumi, who just moved back as if she was floating backwards. Sakura was about to attack herself when she noticed some of her hair floating to the ground. The girl stared at the couple strands of hair, wondering how Yumi could have cut them off when her weapon was a fan.

"Well at least you have fast reflexes," Yumi said. "But then again, the only reason you did dodge was because your friend over there warned you. Maybe I should take her out now, and make the fight more fair."

"You leave Tomoyo out of this!" The pink haired girl chuckled, and shifted her gaze back to Sakura.

"You're right, it probably be a waste of my power anyway. Besides, I'm more interested in you!" Yumi waved her fan making a massive amount of flower petals blast in Sakura's direction. The petals circled around her, and kept coming the more Yumi waved her fan. All she could see was the yellow of the flower petals, and only a little bit of Yumi from the small openings, but soon those were covered as well with more flower petals. Before long Sakura was completely covered with the flower petals that circled around her. Everything around her was yellow, and swirling. The more she struggled to see through them, the faster they seemed to spin. She became dizzy, and nauseous. Her eyelids felt as if they weighted two tons, her body numbing, and she could feel her grip on her staff loosen.

'I….have to….get rid of….these flowers….' The young girl thought, trying to regain control of this situation. Yumi just scoffed as she watched her attack continue.

"If you lose consciousness because of such a simple attack, then you aren't worth my time at all. I'll just finish you here and now." At that moment, the petals were suddenly blown away by a powerful wind. The second they subsided, Sakura attacked with a blast of wind from her wand. Yumi waved her fan that caused a blast of flower petals to counter Sakura's wind. The two blasts met, and cancelled each other out with one big gust of wind.

When the wind died down, another blast of flower petals was shooting towards the emerald-eyed girl, who quickly jumped to the side, and countered with a blast of wind. Yumi leapt into the air, avoiding Sakura's attack, and waved her fan three times. The petals on the flowers below her all rose towards her, where she formed them into a ball, and hurled it at Sakura. The young girl twirled her wand around until it created a tornado in front of her that blew back the attack. Yumi waved her fan again, dispelling the approaching attack. When she landed, Sakura let out another blast of wind; Yumi simply sidestepped it, and blew the young girl into the ground with a wave of her fan. Sakura rolled to her feet, and charged towards her foe, who closed her fan with a smirk on her face.

'Come. Let's see how good you are at close range combat!' Sakura attacked with a fast downward strike, but Yumi dodged as if it wasn't there. The amber haired girl followed up with a around swing. Yumi moved back, and it looked as if she slid across the ground. Sakura charged again, and attacked with multiple swings of her staff, but Yumi was dodging them with her eyes closed. The pink staff came in from her right, and the pink haired girl reacted. She hit her fan against Sakura's wrist and stopped the incoming attack, then pointed the fan right under Sakura's chin. The young girl trembled slightly when she saw the small blades in between the points of the fan.

'So that's how she cut some of my strands,' she thought.

"Tsk, Tsk. Such poor close range-fighting techniques. You wave that staff like a club. No grace or skill behind it at all," Yumi said. At that moment, a strong gust of wind knocked the pink haired girl back a few feet. The second her feet touched the flower filled ground, another windblast came towards her, but Yumi interrupted it with a blast of flowers. When her flowers parted, a pink blur came Yumi's way, but just as usual she dodged it with ease. But this time two windblasts followed it up, knocking her back. The fan user slid across the ground, looked up, and saw Sakura moving in with a fierce cry, with her staff over her head. Yumi jumped back, and let out a quick flower blast. Sakura held her staff in front of her to cushion the force of the attack, but it still knocked her to the ground. The emerald-eyed girl rolled out of the path of an incoming attack, only to be blown back by another blast.

"Sakura! Are you okay!" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah I'm fine," Sakura replied. "But she's really tough."

"And the fun is just beginning," the pink haired girl giggled. "Now for one of my favorite techniques! Pollen Powder!" Yumi took in a deep breath, and blew out a strange yellow dust with golden dots sparkling around it. Yumi blew the substance all around her, soon all Sakura could see was the strange yellow powder. When she took a breath, she instantly felt lightheaded, and she could barely stand without stumbling. When she looked up at Yumi, her eyes widened when she saw her opponent split into nine copies of herself. The clones surrounded her and they giggled as they watched her struggle to just stand.

"What…is this stuff?"

"It's one of my special abilities. Pollen Powder. It's made of special demonic pollen that holds all kinds of powers and abilities based on the thickness and amount in the air. This batch is pretty thin, and not all that much. The worst-case scenario for you is an upset stomach, and some dizziness," one of the Yumi's replied.

"Why…aren't…you affected?" Sakura asked weakly, her staff the only thing keeping her from collapsing. Another Yumi just laughed.

"I'm the one who's using this technique! It would be foolish to use a technique that affects you negatively as well! Under a strict training regiment I became immune to the negative effects of this powder. It can only affect me positively!" Sakura gathered what energy she had left, and slashed the closest Yumi copy, only to have her attack pass right through it. Before she could even blink, she was blasted back six feet by powerful blasts. Sakura was barely on her feet when, a Yumi clone appeared behind her. She blasted Sakura forward towards another clone, who did the same. Sakura trapped in a game of pinball with Yumi's copies, and she was too weak to fight back. Another copy's blast sent her upwards into the air. As she cried out, yet another copy appeared above her, and slashed her with the blades of her fan, sending her back down.

By the time Sakura hit the ground, she was covered in bruises and cuts. She could barely stand up, and it felt like she would throw-up her stomach in a matter of seconds. The Yumis surrounded her again, and began giggling as they watched her struggle to stay on her feet.

"If you're struggling with this small amount of pollen powder, then I'd hate to see you handle another batch," one of them giggled. Sakura gripped her staff, and virtually pushed herself to attack. However, just like the last time she tried, her staff only went through the clone. One came in from behind, and with a wave of her fan, Sakura was sliding across the ground.

'What am I going to do?' the young girl thought, as she used to her wand to pick herself up.

"Well this is getting boring," one of the Yumis sighed. "We might as well finish this, and move on to Li. Can't have Tomoko have all the fun." With that the clones waved their fans, sending six powerful blasts at the weakened Sakura.

"Sakura-chan!"

OOOOO

Keroberos stared at his latest opponent, Ami, who seemed more preoccupied with twirling the weight end of her chain-scythe than fighting him. Kero had to admit, watching the weight go around and around was hypnotic. The twirling object was slowly enchanting him; it was all he could focus on. Ami smirked when she noticed the shift in his gaze, and hurled the weight towards the entranced beast. By the time Kero realized what was happening, the weight was already two inches away from his face. The beast quickly turned his head to the side, escaping with just a graze on his nose. When Ami began to retract the weight, Kero rushed in, with his fangs ready to bite the chain-scythe in half. Ami twisted her body around so that the weight end would come towards her faster. Then she threw it so it was below Kero's field of vision. Before the beast realized what was happening, he was sent upwards into the air by what felt like an uppercut from a rhino. The blonde met him in the air and slashed his stomach open with her scythe. Kero fell flat on his back with three missing teeth, and blood oozing out of his stomach.

"And they call you a beast? Humph, what a joke," Ami said as she watched Kero get to his feet. The beast gritted his teeth and charged towards the blonde with a savage roar. Ami leaped over him, and hurled the circular object towards him. Kero jumped back, and flew towards her. Ami, seeing him coming, threw the weight towards a tree branch so it would wrap around it. The blonde then swung on the chain like a vine, and kicked the charging Kero to the ground. As he fell, the beast flipped over to regain his balance in the air, but when he looked around, he couldn't find Ami anywhere. The beast's heart beat uncontrollably as he tried to look through the thick trees for the blonde, but to no avail. It was as if she had disappeared.

'Where is she? She has to be around here somewhere!' he thought as he floated to the ground. The second his large paws touched the dirt, out of nowhere, the weight burst from the trees, and was on a direct path for Kero's skull. Kero sensed it coming, and back kicked the incoming projectile, but as a result, broke a couple bones in his foot.

"Ow! That hurt!" he exclaimed. Suddenly it back again, only this time instead of going straight, it began to twist and bend, so it was impossible for Kero to fully spot. The chain twisted around a tree, and began bending and twisting like a snake in the air. The chain was the body, and the weight was the snakehead with deadly poison ready to inflict on its victim. Kero jumped back, but even after hitting the ground, the chain weight kept coming. It seemed to jump from the hole it made, and go straight for the guardian beast again. Just as he was about to evade, the weight suddenly twisted to the right. Confused, Kero turned to his head to see what was going on, only to have the weight make a sharp turn, and strike him in-between the eyes. The beast let out a loud roar of pain as he fell to the ground with blood spraying out from his head; he even felt parts of his skull crack. As he struggled to get to his feet, he heard Ami laughing from the tree, and even though he could see her, he knew she was twirling around that weight.

"How do you like my Snake Chain?" she asked between giggles. "It's one of this chain-scythe's special abilities."

"Special ability? Figures," Kero muttered. He could barely stand on his four paws. He had two broken ribs, a broken paw, and now he had a serious head injury, he wasn't sure how much more he could take. At that moment the chain weight burst out from the trees again, only this time it was moving in a roller coaster motion. It would go up high, and then make a sudden drop. As Kero watching it approach him he started to move back hoping soon that the chain would reach its limits, and Ami would have to pull it back, giving him the chance to counterattack. However, he seemed to have no such luck. No matter how far he went, the weight kept coming, it was as if there was no to it. Not only that, but the more he moved back, the faster the movement of the chain-weight went. Soon it became hard for Kero to spot the circular object, it was just sliver blurs. Kero became so focused on moving back and trying to spot the weight that he failed to notice he was heading toward a tree, when he did, it was already to late, he was trapped. The weight made a quick elevated movement before coming crashing down towards the caught beast.

'Hey, wait a minute. I can fly!' Without a second thought, the guardian beast flew above the trees, escaping the weight, or so he thought. The second he thought he was safe to counterattack, the chain weight suddenly came up to his altitude as if there was no limit to the chain it was attached to. Kero watched as it paused slightly when it reached a point where it was above him, like a roller coaster pausing for a deep drop. But the second was so fast Kero barely had time to take a breath before the weight came crashing down upon him. The yellow beast tried to escape by flying to the side, but this only gave the weight a new target. The second he turned his body so that his head was away from the weight, it struck him in his ribs, breaking all on that side in an instant. Keroberos let out a loud roar of pain that could be heard all around the forest as he fell to the ground. Needless to say the beast hit the ground with an extremely loud CRASH!

Ami laughed as she retracted her chain and dropped down from the trees. The blonde approached the large crater the beast had created from his fall, and began to twirl it as she talked.

"How do you like that one? That's one of my favorites. Flying Snake Bite. I just love watching my opponents crash to the ground like rocks. Originally the upward motion of the attack was to send my enemies into the air, and then downward motion was to slam into the ground. But your version was the most entertaining to watch."

Kero struggled to get out of the hole, but it felt as if he had broken every bone in his body from the fall. He could barely move, and his wings were too weak to flap, let alone lift him from this deep crater. The most the weakened beast could do was twitch helplessly. He was at Ami's mercy. The blonde raised tossed the weight towards Kero so it would wrap around one of his paws, and dragged him out. Ami smirked, as she stood over him with the scythe part of the chain raised in a strike position.

"Let's finish this."

OOOOO

CLANG! Was the sound that constantly echoed throughout the forest, and falling trees seemed to be the only event happening. But look closer, and someone would see the shockwaves of a fierce battle, between board sword and straight sword. They would see a green blur, and a blue blur collide with each other, separate, then collide again. While it looked like some kind of spell or illusion it was actually two teenagers locked in a fierce duel, undetectable to the untrained eye.

Li blocked a downward strike, and pushed off the powerful sword to attack with a quick slash. Tomoko parried, and threw a punch towards the young man. Li quickly moved his head to the side, and attacked with a fast slash. Tomoko knocked it to the side, and thrust forward her powerful sword. Li blocked with an upward block, and turned around into a high slash, that Tomoko leapt away from. The second the blue haired girl touched the ground; she dashed towards the amber haired fighter, with her sword ready to cut him in two. With a fierce cry, she raised her sword over her head, and gathered as much power as she could. Just as the sliver blade came down, Li jumped to the side, pivoted on his left foot, and turned himself into a 360-degree slash. A loud clang echoed through the forest as broadsword met with straight sword.

Li and Tomoko jumped back to take break, they had been fighting since morning with only two seconds to take breaks, and it was already mid-afternoon. Needles to say, the two intense swordfighters were tired. It took all of Li's inner strength not to collapse right now. His heart felt like it would burst from his chest any second, and his breathing was out of control. If this kept up, he would be able to spot Tomoko's attacks clearly enough to fight back.

'Speaking of Tomoko,' he thought, and looked up at his blue haired opponent. He could tell from her intense and shallow breaths, she was just as tired as he was, probably more. Using such strength, keeping up with his speed, attacking with intense speed of her own, it must be tiring for her. He noticed the lose grip she had on her sword. If he attacked now he could probably knock the sword out of her hands, but she would still have her unusual strength to fight with. He looked over her some more, and saw some strands of her blue hair clinging to her brow because of the intense sweat she was working up. He also noticed the look in her eyes, though they still had the same intensity from when the fight started, they had a far away look to them. Adding in the factor of their fatigue, if this duel continued, he realized, he would probably end up killing her. He didn't want to kill her, not without a proper explanation of just what was going on.

"Hey!" he called. "Let's quit while we're ahead. I may not like you; hell I hate your guts. But I don't want to kill you without you explaining yourself." Tomoko's eyes narrowed.

"What's there to explain? You killed our father, and my sisters and I are here to avenge him. It's as simple as that!" Li just growled.

"What makes you think I killed him! Don't you think you should question your source if I don't even know what the hell you're talking about!" Tomoko's grip on her sword tightened.

"What's there to question! We saw you with our very own eyes that day! None of us will ever forget that day four years ago," she exclaimed. "Even now I can see what you did as if it's right in front of me! I refuse to rest until I have your head!" Li quickly noted that the focused look in her eyes returned as she prepared herself for another round.

"Look I didn't do it!" Li shouted.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Tomoko bellowed, and punch the ground in front of her. At that moment, the ground began to split, making Li jump back. The blue haired girl, not waiting a second charged after him.

'I'll never forget that day!' Tomoko thought as she charged towards Li. 'this bastard took away the only parent we had, and he has the nerve to deny it!'

As the blue haired girl thought, her mind flashed back to the event four years ago.

Flashback

It seemed to be a normal sunny day, at least that's how it started. The sky was blue, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun shined down brightly on the citizen of a small town. But far off in the distance a cloud of dust was approaching the peaceful town. Horses with countless men riding on them were heading straight for the small town with their weapons drawn, and their blood lustful expression showing clear as day.

It only took the men a five short minutes to reduce the town into nothing but a chaotic pile of rubble. The houses were being burned down, and the people were being sliced into pieces. Inside of one house, a father pushed his three daughters into a closet.

"Father, how long must we stay in here?" a young Tomoko asked.

"As long as it takes sweetie. Those soldiers are not going to let up. But don't worry, I will protect you girls to the death," their father replied with a kind smile.

"You don't have to do that father!" Ami chirped up. "We can handle ourselves. You're the one who's been training us!" Their father only smiled again.

"It's true you three are unusually powerful, but I fear you can't help your father with this situation. Now please stay there, and stay quiet. I'm going to help our people escape." At that moment, their front door slammed open to reveal a dark figure with his sword drawn, and his intense amber eyes glaring holes through the sisters' father.

"Hajimate Serika, your time has come." Hajimate drew his sword, and tossed the sheath to the side.

"I highly doubt that! It is your time that has come!" With that, the man dashed towards the figure with a loud cry. Within seconds, the dark figure made a Z motion with his sword, and Hajimate fell to the ground in four pieces. Which were, the hands that still held on to his sword, his head, his upper body, and his lower body. At the sight of this, the eyes of the three girls widened, and they vomited at the sight of their father in pieces. Without a second glance, the amber eyes swordsman walked towards the door, wiping the blood of his victim from his sword.

The next day, the three girls were standing on the hill that used to oversee their village, but now there was nothing left but ashes.

"Da-daddy!" Yumi wailed on her knees, with her eyes overflowing with tears.

"That bastard!" Ami shouted. "How could he!" Tomoko had her back to her sisters. She was supposed to be the eldest, and the strongest, she couldn't allow them to see her tears.

"Such a sad sight," a smooth voice said from behind them. The three girls turned around to see a young man with white hair a long black cloak, and two swords at his waist. "The only survivors of this village I see, and you lost your father, am I correct."

"We didn't lose him," Tomoko whispered. "He was taken from us. If I see that person again, I swear on father's grave that I'll kill him!" The man just chuckled.

"Such a strong will. The only thing you lack now it battle experience, and technique. All right, how about you girl come with me?" the three girls looked up at him strangely.

"Wh-wh-what do you mean?" Yumi stuttered, her eyes still filled with tears. The man smirked.

"I can sense you girls will be powerful fighters as you grow, I can provide you with the training you're father couldn't give you. Also, I'll even tell you who his killer was. But in return, you must do whatever I ask. Agreed."

"Yes," Tomoko agreed without a second thought. "Anything to avenge father!"

"Excellent. Now I believe you wish to know who killed him?" the girls nodded, and the man's smirk grew wider. "Syaoran. The name of your father's killer is Syaoran."

"Syaoran," the girls whispered, automatically adding the name to their memories.

"But what's your name mister?" Ami asked.

"Viga."

End Flashback.

'Ever since that day I promised myself I would do anything it takes to kill this one person! I trained till I thought I would die, but one thing kept me going, the thought of killing Syaoran! I did everything Viga asked me to do, and it was all leading up to this one moment! I can't lose just because I'm tired! I can't lose! I can't lose! I won't lose!'

"I WON'T LOSE!" the blue haired girl bellowed as she threw an extremely powerful punch towards the amber eyed fighter. Li could barely see the punch coming, but he managed to just barely avoid it. The second the punch connected with a tree, it was hurled off its branches and crashed through six other trees.

'Her resolve, and intensity has returned. But now it's even stronger than before. No matter what happens now, she isn't going to back down. I can tell, she isn't going to give up, not even if it means death,' Li thought as he dodged a powerful swing from her sword.

"That event four years ago is still fresh in my memory! Not just me, my little sisters as well! All three of us worked hard of this moment, and I refuse to back down! Even now I can see your cold amber eyes!" Li froze at this, only to be hurled through five trees by a punch from Tomoko.

'Four years ago? Cold amber eyes?' he thought as he crashed into the ground. The minute he got to his feet Tomoko dashed towards him with her sword raised over her head.

"NOW DIE!" Li grabbed his sword, and managed to block the deadly attack at the last second, but he was using everything he had just to hold off the sword.

"Hold on Tomoko! You said four years ago right!" This only made the blue haired girl push down harder on the sword.

"Of course I did! I'll never forget that day!" Li just closed his eyes and smirked.

"This proves it, I couldn't have done it!"

"You lie!" Tomoko replied, pushing harder. "We saw you! And your eyes! Who else has amber eyes like yours!" Li growled, and managed to push off the sword, and trip Tomoko to the ground.

"Think about it! You and I are the same age! Four years ago I was only 12!"

"What does that have to do with anything!"

"What I'm trying to say is, I couldn't have killed him, because at that age, I could barely hold up a sword."

"What!"

AN: I'm so sorry for the long wait everyone! Really I'm sorry! And no it wasn't school, because we hardly did a thing this month. It was writer's block, pure and simple. The hardest thing about this chapter was trying to describe Ami and Yumi's weird styles. Ami's was the hardest, and the fight between Yumi and Sakura is what made me stop for a while. At first it started out okay, but as it went on, I realized they were basically using the same technique over and over again. So after I realized that, I wanted to add in some close quarters fighting, but then I thought, "How the hell do you fight with a fan!" I saw martial arts special on Discovery Channel a while back, and they said the fan could be used as a weapon, and that's where I got the idea for a character to use it as a weapon. But for the life of me I couldn't remember how they fought with it. So I improvised a little. I figured it had to be used to interrupt incoming attacks somehow, so I wrote in Sakura swing, and Yumi kept interrupting and countering. Then I realized Sakura was attacking with technique. And since I didn't want it to be repetitive, I cut that part down to that one part. So as you can see it was Sakura's fight that took me so long. Ami was kind of hard to because it was hard to describe the kind of movements I imagined her doing. But after a while I found the right words, at least I think I did. The hardest thing about this story all together is Sakura's character. Throughout this whole story she'll be fighting experts, and powerful fighters, and the hardest thing is making those fights believable. Sakura hasn't been training and fighting her whole life like Li, so I have to make it an exciting fight, but still make it so that she's still new to this. I will develop her more as a fighter, but at this moment I can't have her fighting like Li all of a sudden, so far believe it or not she's only been in ten or eleven fights. While that may be a high number it is nowhere near high enough to make her at Li's level. But anyway, I feel pretty weird posting this chapter on Christmas Eve. I had a Christmas chapter in mind, but since I'm in the middle of this arc, and it was way to fluffy for Li's character at the moment, I decided to scrap it. Too bad too, and I had all this music that could go with it. Oh well. I'm sure you've had enough of my ramblings, here is the preview for the next chapter.

_Sakura: Li seems to have realized some information that'll prove his innocence in Tomoko, and her sisters' claims. But if he didn't kill their father who did?_

_Tomoyo: It had to been someone else with amber eyes._

_Sakura: But who else has eyes like Li? He's the only person with amber eyes I know._

_Tomoyo: And while that's going on, Sakura and Kero struggle to find ways to defeat Yumi and Ami. To only add to our problems, Tomoko doesn't believe Li, and attacks with a special technique that she's been holding back this entire time!_

_Sakura: With all this stacked against us, will we be able to defeat these vengeful sisters? You'll just have to find out in, "A Final Attack: Special Technique of the Serika Style!" Next time on Seven Deadly Jewels! See ya!_

Merry Christmas everyone! (Or Hanukah or Kwanzaa, or whatever the heck you celebrate at this time!)


	37. Speical Technique of the Serika's Style

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 37

Tomoko stared at Li with her cold blue eyes with a strange mixture of hate, and confusion. In their last verbal outburst, Li reveled that four years ago he couldn't pick up a sword, but this only served to make things worse. She was confused, was it possible for him to become so good with a sword in only four years? That was impossible. It was impossible for someone to be such a good swordsman with only four years worth of training. He had to be lying, that was the only explanation. He would say anything to stop her from killing him. The blue haired girl's gaze intensified as she stared at him.

"You lie," she growled. "What do you mean you couldn't pick up a sword four years ago!"

"Just what I said. What are you deaf?"

"It's just another one of your useless lies! There's no way you could become such a good swordsman with only four years of training!" Li just smirked.

"Did you just give me a compliment?"

"Shut up! I don't care what you say; there is nothing in this world that can stop me from killing you Syaoran! Nothing!" Li's smirked dropped as he sighed.

"Fine. I won't say anymore, but I will say this. Do you really trust the one you and your sisters are working for? What makes you think they aren't lying to you? And what's stopping them from killing all three of you when you're finished with me? Or what if you fail? What then?" The intense glare in Tomoko's eyes dropped as she absorbed Li's words, but the same glare returned only a few seconds later.

"You're only trying to twist things around!" Then the blue haired girl smirked. "Besides, I have no intention of failing, neither do my sisters. We won't stop until you're head is on a platter! Now enough talk! If you have anything else to say, then say it with your sword!"

"Yeah you're right," Li replied crouching into a defensive position. "I've had enough of talking to someone who won't listen to reason anyway."

All was still for a moment. The animals had long ago stopped moving about and making noise, and the wind was nothing but a very light breeze. Li's eyes narrowed when he noticed Tomoko make a small step forward, and he instantly tightened his grip on his sword. The second the wind blew a leaf off a tree, the two off. Their swords met with a loud, but brief clang, before they separated for a nanosecond.

Li parried a fast thrust, and pivoted on his right foot into a 180 slash that Tomoko quickly jumped away from. The blue haired girl charged in with a loud cry and slammed her sword on the ground, unleashing a wave of rock and dirt. The amber haired boy leaped into a tree, and pulled out one of his talismans.

"Element Lighting!"

"Child's play!" Tomoko exclaimed as she slashed the lighting attack away while she charged towards the tree. Li flipped out of the tree as the enraged girl threw a punch that brought down the mighty piece of nature. The young man landed behind her, and quickly ducked under a strong horizontal slash. When he turned around to thrust forward he was met with a strong punch from Tomoko in his stomach. Blood trailed down Li's mouth as he gasped for air, and stepped back. He wasn't even close to fully recovering when Tomoko fist slammed against his face. The amber-eyed fighter dug his foot in the ground to keep himself from going flying. Before he could even look up the blue haired girl sent a kick that made him slam against a tree against his back.

Li bounced against the tree like a ball, and was heading straight into the path of another one of Tomoko's punches. He just smirked as the leathered fist came closer to him. Suddenly for Tomoko, Li grabbed her arm, and hurled her over his shoulder. The blue haired girl swung her leg outwards into a trip position only to be met with air as Li leaped. The young man brought down his sword with a loud cry as he came down. Tomoko rolled backwards avoiding the blow, and jumped to her feet in an instant.

The two came together in a deadly dance of parries, thrusts, and slashes. Li thrust forward, Tomoko quickly parried the blow, and pushed the young man's sword upwards. Li barely dodged a jab to his face, and managed to counter with a quick slash across her stomach. Tomoko slammed her sword on the ground releasing another wave of rock towards the young man who quickly jumped into the air, only to be met by his opponent.

"Hi!" she said simply, and slammed him to the ground with a strong punch.

"Element Wind!" he called out. A wave of wind appeared below him, and caught him before he hit the ground.

"Nice try! But you'll need to do better than that!" Tomoko exclaimed as she came down towards the amber-eyed fighter with a punch ready. Li jumped off of the wind cloud and into the branches of the trees. "Get back here!" The amber-eyed fighter was a blur as he dodged Tomoko's attacks as he moved through the trees. The blue haired girl attacked with a strong swing that Li managed to block. Their swords were locked together as they moved from tree to tree struggling to gain the upper hand. As they jumped out from another tree, they separated, and landed on separate branches.

After a quick mutual glare, the two leapt from their branches, and collided in midair. Li pushed Tomoko's sword upwards, and sent her to the ground with a quick punch to her face.

"You dare strike a woman?" Tomoko said as the young man flipped to the ground. Li just scoffed.

"When you're the mists of battle you can't afford to discriminate. Besides," he added with a smirk. "You're anything but lady like." If her eyes weren't already filled with malice, his latest comment defiantly made it worse. At that moment Tomoko sprinted towards her target with a loud cry. The amber-eyed fighter jumped back from a downward strike, and quickly thrust forward. Tomoko brought her sword into an upward block, and kicked Li through two trees with a swift and sudden front kick. As she examined the damage, Li leapt out from the rubble and brought up his index, middle, and thumb.

"This is…!" the girl muttered out loud.

"Lighting!" A blast of lighting suddenly rained down from the sky, but Tomoko dodged it with ease.

"That might be one of your strongest attacks, but you'll need to do better to kill me Syaoran!" With this Li just smirked as he put his sword in between his teeth.

'Then let's see how you like multiple blasts!' His hands went though three more seals before returning to the original seal. At that very moment four more bolts of lighting came down upon the young woman, who looked upon them in shock.

"What the-!" she exclaimed as she just barely managed to dodge one. The next three hit her square in her chest, making her fill the forest with her screams. Li spat out his sword and raised it just as his last bolt of lighting came down the Earth.

"Now to finish this!" he exclaimed. "Lighting Sword!" With those words he swung his sword, releasing the energy of the lighting to the already weakened young girl. After a loud, but brief explosion at contact, smoke covered the area. The young man smirked as he looked over his handy work from the tree, but it dropped the second the brown smoke cleared. There was Tomoko with her arms crossed over her body with no even a burn mark on her skin. "What-the!"

"Ha. You'll have to do better than that Syaoran. You see these gloves? They're made of a special material that cancels out any and all forms of lighting. And that's not all they can do," Tomoko said with a dark smirk on her face. Li was getting a bad feeling from that smirk. The blue haired girl clapped her gloved hands together and at that moment released the same blast of lighting Li shot at her.

"Shit!" he growled as he quickly dodged the blast, but then came another, and another. Tomoko laughed wickedly as she watched Li barely evade his own attacks, she could do this all day if she wanted. Li jumped out from his tree branch, and slapped an incoming blast away with his sword. "To beat me, you'll need to do more than just shot back my attacks Tomoko!"

"I intend to Syaoran!" Tomoko exclaimed as their swords met again. The two quickly jumped back before rushing towards each again. When their swords crossed, Tomoko pushed the straight sword to the side, and swung out her leg in a sudden roundhouse kick that could topple two trees. Li swiftly jumped out of the path of the incoming attack, and twisted his body around Tomoko so that he was behind her. Once she sensed him behind her, Tomoko thrust out her elbow, nailing the fighter square in his stomach. As soon as Li let out a loud cry and gasp for air, Tomoko grabbed him by the collar, and hurled him through four trees with no trouble at all.

'Well this is going well,' he muttered as he got to his feet. 'I wonder how that stupid girl, and that damn stuffed animal are doing. Those other two aren't cakewalk either.' His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of trees slamming to the ground, which meant Tomoko was on her way.

"Come out, come out wherever you are Syaoran!" she exclaimed as she punched through another tree.

'Looks like it's time for my grand reentrance,' he thought with a smirk, and jumped out from his hiding place, restarting the fight.

OOOOO

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cried as she witnessed her best friend being consumed by six powerful blasts sent by six Yumis. Exactly how they came into being, Tomoyo couldn't say, something to do with her Pollen Powder that was in the air. But at that moment Tomoyo only cared about the well being of her fried. "Sakura-chan! Are you alright!"

"Humph, well that was boring," one of the six scoffed. "Barely put a fight."

"You are aware by destroying her we just destroyed the jewel she was carrying," another copy pointed out.

"Don't worry, those things can't be destroyed by a simple attack like that," another one replied.

"Well come on let's search what's left of her." At that very moment, water seemed to burst out of nowhere, and in seconds, the entire area from the ground, to the air, was filled with water. The Yumis were shocked at this development, but not nearly as shocked when they realized they were fading away.

"What the hell!" one of them exclaimed once she noticed that her hands were fading away. Tomoyo watched in amazement as the Yumi copies screamed and yelled, until they completely faded away, soon only the original remained. "What the hell just happened! Who did that!" The wind in the air suddenly became so powerful that it blew Yumi six feet back, and the smoke cleared up instantly, reveling Sakura with her staff in front of her in a defensive position.

"Hi," she said simply.

"You!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Sakura-chan!" Yumi just smirked after a while.

"I see, so you used a water spell to clear the air of my Pollen Powder right?" she figured.

"More like the Water Sprit," Sakura corrected.

"No matter. I'll still kill you no matter what spells you use!" With a wave of her fan another strong blast of flowers shot towards Sakura, who sent it back to its sender with a gust of wind from her staff. Yumi quickly dodged her own blast, only to be caught in the path of one of Sakura's windblasts. The fan user quickly redirected the attack with another fan wave, and countered with an even stronger blast of flower petals. The emerald-eyed girl knew she wouldn't be able to stop this one on her own, so she quickly reached into her pocket and drew out Watery.

"Watery clear the air of these petals!" With the command in place, water burst out from the confided space and completely filled the air with water again, dissipating the incoming flower attack, and shot straight towards Yumi. The fan user was caught completely off guard by the powerful outburst of water, and was blasted back eight feet as a result. Seeing her chance, Sakura dashed towards the weakened fan user with her wand in a position ready to swing. Yumi quickly regained her balance, and spotted Sakura charging towards her with her wand ready. Yumi smirked at this.

"Don't think that it's this easy!" she exclaimed, and waved the fan upwards, making all the flower petals around Sakura shoot her up into the air like a balloon. She then waved it again making the remaining flower petals circle around her while Sakura was still in the air.

"What in the world!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Take this, Petal Blades!" The amber haired girl cried out in pain as the petals cut her like small knives, and just after they passed her, the petals turned around and began slashing her again. Yumi laughed as she waved her fan making the petals make another U-turn, and slash Sakura all over her body. Sakura wanted to fall to the ground, fall in the water, anything to make this stop, but the petals from Yumi's last attack were holding her up, and keeping her as a prime target.

"Hang in there Sakura!" Tomoyo yelled.

"Ha! I could do this all day if I wanted, but since we're on a tight schedule, I'll have to cut down on the fun." Yumi then released the petals that were holding Sakura up, and the young girl fell face first into the ground like a rock. Before she could even recover, she was up in the air again. The pink haired fan user had a dark smirk on her face as she released the petals again, and attacked with another round of Petal Blades that cut her all over her body as she fell. Sakura closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, but it never came, when she opened them she was one inch from the ground with the petals holding her in place.

"What…!" she muttered as Yumi began to approach her.

"Well that game was getting boring, how about we play another?" With those words, Sakura was flung across the ground and into the lake where she sank as if she had weights all over her. After only a minute she was running out of oxygen. She opened her mouth to let out a cry for help but only bubbles and some muffled words came out. After another minute, her lungs felt as if they were on fire, her throat tightened so much it felt like not even a worm could slide through. She flung her arms out all over her trying to find some way out of this, she squeezed her eyes shut not being able to stand the blue and black around her anymore. Just as she was about to give up, her body suddenly shot to the surface, and she took the deepest breath she had taken before. Sakura was about to attack the fan user, only to realize she was still trapped in Yumi's petals.

"Let…me…go!" she panted. She was still trying to fill her lungs with air. The pink haired girl just smirked at her plea.

"Let you go? And when we're having so much fun? Why deprive yourself?" With this Sakura was in the lake faster than she could blink. Two minutes passed faster than seconds and her bubbles gave away that her need for air had resurfaced. Before her face could turn completely blue, she was flung out of the water for a few seconds worth of air.

"Quit it!" Tomoyo yelled. "That's unfair!" With a wave if Yumi's hand, Tomoyo was blown back.

"I'll handle you later. Right now I'm having fun, but since I have to hurry, I'll make this your last dip!" And Sakura was submerged with a simple wave. As the young girl sank, she knew it was hopeless to struggle, but she had to try. She refused to die here. But no matter what she thought, the situation seemed completely hopeless. She was just about to give up when she remembered the card in her pocket.

'Watery! That's right! This situation is prefect! I can't believe I forgot about it! Li was right, I am a stupid girl!' Sakura quickly wiped out the Watery card and held it close to her. 'Watery please, aid me.'

The water around seemed to come alive as the water sprit burst from the card and began to take form in the lake. All the water dissolved the petals around her, and they instantly began to raise her out of the water. Sakura couldn't help but let out a small smile. All of a sudden she had air in her lungs.

"Now that she out of the picture, I can take care of you, then Li," Yumi chuckled as she approached Tomoyo with her fan already in position.

"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo whispered worriedly as she stared at the lake.

"Don't worry, you'll be with her soon," Yumi giggled and was about to wave her fan when the water from the lake exploded upwards like a fountain with Sakura on the top.

"I'm not finished yet!" Yumi let out a frustrated growl.

"Looks like normal attacks and tricks won't work on you. So right now, you're forcing my hand," she said as she reached into her sleeve, and pulled out another fan.

"What's that?" Sakura wondered as she readied herself for anything.

"You force me to use an attack that was saving for Li, but I guess you'll do, seeing as you won't stay down."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure Watery can stop it!" Sakura said confidently. Yumi let out a confident smirk as well.

"This I highly doubt. The attack I'm about to use could take out an entire castle filled with heavily armed men. I doubt your precious Watery can stop it."

"We'll see."

"Yes we will." Yumi began to move her fans around as if she was in a dance, and closed her eyes. She slowly waved her first fan above her head, and passed the second fan across her face. The kimono girl made a slow spin around, and began to twirl her second fan around as made some flowing motions with her first. Sakura began to notice that as she moved, the petals around her began to react, slowly but surely. It was at this point that Yumi made circular motions with her two fans around her upper-body. The pink haired girl crossed her arms across her body, and then her moves became more robust. She extended her arms above her head and waved her first fan across her body, spun around and did the same with her second. This was followed by an upwards motions with the first then twirled her second as she moved it across her body. It was now that the petals around them started to circle around her, and the wind picked up so much it was hard to even keep her eyes open.

"What's she doing?" Sakura wondered out loud. "But I had better get Watery ready." The young girl jumped off of the fountain, and landed on the other side of the lake. She then bean to spin her wand around in front of the lake, which caused the water to react. A large cyclone of water burst out of the lake that stood next to the still bursting fountain. Sakura, seeing this as a good thing, quickly made another one, at this point, Yumi snapped her eyes open as she crossed her fans across her body.

"Now! Ultimate Serika Fan Style Technique: Petals of the Wind!" Yumi swung her arms and three large white cyclones with pink petals circling around it burst out of nowhere and shot towards Sakura on the other side of lake.

"Watery, attack!" With one wave of her wand, the three large water cyclones shot towards the approaching petal cyclones.

"TIME TO FINISH THIS BATTLE!" exclaimed the two girls as the cyclones collided with each other, with an extremely loud,

BANG!

OOOOO

Kero groaned as he struggled to flap his wings. But they were too weak from his fall from nearly 500 feet in the air. He felt as if he had broken every bone in his body, and to make things worse Ami was standing over the hole he made, twirling the weight end of her chain-scythe, and smiling a dark smile.

"Let's finish this," the blonde giggled and readied herself to slam the weight into Kero's body, when the beast let out a breath of fire that made Ami jump back. With as much strength as he could muster, Keroberos climbed out of the hole, but collapsed the second he was out.

"I'm not finished…. yet."

"Yet," Ami chuckled, still twirling the weight. Kero, seeing no other way, let out another breath of fire. "Oh please," she groaned as she twirled the weight in front of her, dispelling the fire.

"Damn," Kero growled.

"You finished?" the blonde asked. The beast let out a loud growl, got to his feet, and with the last of his strength charged towards Ami.

"I'm not going down!" he shouted. Ami just rolled her eyes.

"Stupid beast," she muttered. When Kero was within an inch of colliding his head with her stomach, the blonde jumped to the side and hurled the weight towards Keroberos' legs. In one split second Kero's legs were tied together with no hope of breaking them.

"Damn it!" Kero growled. Ami approached him, and punched him square in his face, knocking him out instantly.

"Shut up." The blonde reached into her gi, and pulled out a blue sphere that glowed blue once she began to talk into it. "Yumi, you there? I have one of Li's companions. What about you?" There was no response, so Ami tried again. "Yumi? You there? Answer you little brat! Yumi!" It was then she heard a very loud explosion on the other end. "Yumi!"

"Yeah I'm here! No need to worry!" Yumi replied from the other end. An image of Yumi appeared in the center of the sphere when she began to talk.

"Jeez what the hell took you so long?" Ami asked obviously irked.

"Sorry. That little girl gave me more trouble than I expected. I even had to use my best attack," Yumi replied.

"You okay?" the blonde asked. "That attack usually takes a lot out of you."

"Yeah I'm fine. I got her, and her little friend too."

"Good. Now all that remains is Tomoko. Come to where I am, and bring those two girls with you. Okay?" Yumi nodded.

"I'll be there in two minutes." With that the sphere stopped glowing.

"Good. This will certainly bring Syaoran to us," Ami muttered as she looked at the unconscious form of Kero.

OOOOO

Another tree fell with a loud crash as Li and Tomoko continued their fight. Li blocked a fast thrust from Tomoko, and pushed the sword upwards, leaving her open for a quick slash. Tomoko quickly sidestepped the slash jabbed Li in his ribs. The amber-eyed fighter slid back slightly, but dug his feet into the ground to stop himself from going too far. Tomoko dashed towards him attacking with wild swing that Li swiftly dodged, and thrust forward. The blue haired girl blocked with an upwards motion and countered with a fast jab. Li evaded the fist, and pulled the girl into a quick elbow to her stomach. Tomoko swung her leg into a sudden front kick that Li blocked, and countered with stab through her shoulder. The young man pulled it out, and slashed the girl across her stomach. Tomoko quickly punched Li into the ground and jumped back to examine the wound.

It was a rather deep slash, and plenty of blood was flowing out of it already. The girl growled at herself for being open at that moment, but she wouldn't allow this wound to kill her. No matter how deep it was it wouldn't stop her.

"What now Tomoko? Keep fighting? Just so you know, if you keep fighting, the blood flowing out will only triple, and you'll die of blood loss in two minutes. Staying still will give you ten full minutes of life. Plenty of time to tell me, just what the hell is going on!"

"This again? How dense can you be! I told you, you killed our father!"

"And I'm telling you I was still in training! My master took me into the mountains to train when I was six! I didn't come down until I was thirteen! I couldn't have done it!" Tomoko punched down a tree as she growled.

"I've…had…enough….!" She took a few deep breaths before going into an odd stance. "I want to refrain from using this, but you give me no choice!"

"What the hell is that?" Li asked.

"This is the ultimate technique of the Serika sword style. Did you know it originally began as a dance? My father saw my mother dancing as a Geisha, and added his weapons techniques to her graceful dances, forming the Serika style. It can be applied to almost any weapon. But the ones it works best with is, the sword, fans, and the chain-scythe."

"Thanks for the pointless history lesson."

"Yes. It's time I show you why we're Master Viga's most trusted servants." Tomoko closed her eyes and began to gather her aura. Li placed his sword in front of him as he prepared himself.

'What kind of attack could it be?' Li asked himself. Three minutes later, he got his answer. Tomoko snapped her eyes open and her blue aura was all around her.

"Ultimate Serika Sword Style Technique: Three Tiger Strike! One!" Tomoko swung her sword releasing a powerful blast that Li quickly dove away from. "Two!" Another blast shot towards him. The fighter quickly jumped above the trees to avoid it.

"A little too big of a jump, but who knows that the third one would be," Li muttered to himself. But his thoughts were broken the second he heard, a loud,

"Three!"

"What the-!" In front of him was a blue blur that was heading towards him with speed he couldn't avoid. He was about to try and block it when he just froze in mid-air. The young man coughed up a large portion blood. Below him, was Tomoko with her sword that entered in his stomach, and came out through his back. Tomoko smirked, and pulled out her sword. Then she punched the wounded young man into the ground. Li was curled up on the ground groaning in pain from both the wound and the fall. Tomoko laughed as she watched him.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen," she laughed as she stood on a tree branch above him. "You look so pathetic."

"Shit…" Suddenly a strong gust of wind burst out of nowhere, and on the tree branch along with Tomoko were Yumi, and Ami. But they weren't alone. In their arms were the unconscious forms of Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero. "What the-! What hell are you bitches trying to do! I thought I was your target!"

"You are, but this girl has one of the three you carry on her. The jewels are, after all our prime target. It is the wish of our master," Ami replied. "The other two. Well just collateral."

"What are you going to do with them?" Li asked weakly clutching his major wound.

"Nothing, for now," Tomoko answered. "There's a fort about five miles from this spot. If you want them back, go there by dusk, and bring the two jewels you have with you. If you don't, well let's just say, you won't enjoy the outcome."

"That's only if you can survive the walk there," Yumi giggled. "With that wound, you probably won't survive the afternoon! Even if you do make it to dusk, there's no way you can survive the five mile walk!" The three girls let out evil giggles, and disappeared with a gust of petals.

"Damn it!" Li shouted. "I'm so stupid! I don't fight at my best like this! There's no way I can win. But if I leave it like this, then they'll just keep coming. Plus someone needs to set those stupid bitches straight. But I have to know, who really killed their father."

Li practically crawled towards a tree, and sat against it. He crossed his feet, and placed his hands in a hand seal. The young man closed his eyes, and took deep slow breaths. The necklace he always wore began to glow and his mind drifted to that day four years ago. He saw the three of them huddled together in a closet, and their father being cut into pieces by a tall dark figure with a fast sword hand, and amber eyes like his. Li's eyes widened when he saw the man step outside into the light. It then his vision stopped.

'The man who killed their father. It was…..'

AN: I'm evil I know, I know. But I just love cliffhangers! Well when I'm writing them, not when I'm reading. Don't worry I won't leave you guys hanging for too long. (Hopefully) Anyway sorry it took so long. It was a mixture of writer's block, and temporarily losing inspiration for this fic. Well it wasn't the whole story, just this arc. I came up with it without fully developing what would happen. I had their appearance all planned out, and the ending too, but everything in the middle I neglected to develop. I didn't know weather to have Sakura and Kero win, or Yumi and Ami win their fights. Then I had to think of what would happen after that. So then I settled on the whole kidnapping ploy. Don't worry Sakura and Tomoyo won't be kidnapped too often. I mean seriously, girl characters that get kidnapped all the time get pretty annoying after a while. (cough cough Kagome cough cough) Anyway, I hope this chapter makes up for the lack of action in the last chapter. I read through it again, and realized that they didn't do much besides talk and fight for a couple of paragraphs. Especially on Li and Tomoko's part. But I think this chapter makes up for it, since the fights are better, and not much talking. Well anyway, here's the preview for next chapter!

_Sakura: Oh great, so now Tomoyo, Kero and I have been taken by Tomoko and her sisters! And we're presented to their master Erim, who seems to know Li as well._

_Tomoyo: Don't worry Sakura, Li's coming I'm sure of it. _

_Kero: Yeah injured and hardly at 100 percent  
_

_Sakura: And to make things worse, the second Li arrives he's challenged by all the men there, not to mention Tomoko and her sisters! Can Li beat these vengeful sisters, and tell them who really killed their father? You'll just have to find out in "Assault on Fort Ryu!" Next time on Seven Deadly Jewels! See ya then! _


	38. Assult on Fort Ryu

Seven Deadly Jewels Chapter 38 

Sakura felt as though she was on the back of a swift moving stallion moving through the trees of the forest with ease. At some moments it felt like she was flying, but she wasn't sure what was really going on since she was unconscious. When she finally regained conscious, she heard voices around her.

"Do you really think he'll come? He doesn't seem like the type to care about this comrades," a voice Sakura remembered as Yumi.

"Oh he'll come all right. I'm sure if it's for these three or the jewels. But for whichever reason, he'll come," Tomoko replied.

"And then? If he does come what will we do with those three?" Ami wondered. Tomoko let out a chuckle that sent a cold shiver down Sakura's spine.

"We kill them of course. He deserves to suffer for what he did to father."

"Did you check to make sure you took her necklace from her? Master Erim doesn't want a drop of blood on it," Yumi said. This made Sakura more alert, and she tried to feel if the necklace was still there, but she couldn't move her arms. She tried to pull them apart, but something tight was wrapped around them. She figured it must be rope. Her eyes had yet to adjust to the dark of whatever room she was in, and was relying on the voices around her to indirectly tell her what's happening. But from what she could tell, from both the talking of the three sisters and little things she could make out, she, Tomoyo, and Kero were in a small room with a small fireplace in the center. There seemed to be a small circle in the center of the ceiling that was covered over with a leather flap. There were four walls around them which made it seem more like a prison than a room. The three sisters seemed to be at least four feet in front of her, and from what she could tell, they weren't very alert or on guard right now.

Light suddenly flooded into the room, and Sakura squeezed her eyes shut from the sudden illumination. When she opened them again, she could finally tell where she was. There were in a small room all right, but it was more a small cabin than a room. She was right about the four walls, fireplace, and the opening in the ceiling. But what stuck to Sakura the most about where she was, were the poles that were set up all around it. They weren't very tall, only seemed to reach a fourth of the wall's total height. They were thin upwards, and four inches thick across. Sakura's heart rate sped up when she noticed the skeletons that were tied to them. There arms were bond, and their skulls had cracks and holes going all around it. Many rib bones were broken, and on one, the jawbone was only hanging on by a thread. There was another one his arm bones in pieces, and they were laid out around the skeleton with cobwebs, and rats crawling through the rib cage. Sakura's attention was turned back to the three sisters when she heard them address the person who walked in.

"Master Erim!" they said, and bowed deeply. The young girl looked up, and saw a thin man in a green kimono with a black pattern going around it. He wore light armor on the top, and some metal shoes that went up to his knees. His hair was tied in a high ponytail, and had a sword at his side. His brown eyes looked at Sakura with disgust.

"So I see you brought her," he said simply.

"Yes sir. She and her friends put up quite a fight, but we were able to subdue them," Tomoko replied. Yumi and Ami just scoffed.

"You think those weaklings put up a fight? Give me a break. I barely broke a sweat with mine," Ami chuckled.

"I assume you took whatever jewel this girl has on her," Erim said.

"Yes its right here," Tomoko answered, and held up the Kamikaze necklace. "Syaoran has the rest, and should be coming here soon." The man chuckled and approached Sakura.

"Do have any idea, where you are right now?" he asked as he stooped down to her level. Sakura shook her head. "You're in Fort Ryu, my personal fort. This is where my army and demon henchmen reside. I rule over this entire area, and have sent every demon you've faced since you met with Mudo some time ago." It was at this point, Sakura found her voice.

"What do you mean?" was all she could say however.

"Remember the moon demons that attacked at the temple you and you're little group were staying at the night Syaoran lost his powers? The forest mistress Situra, the spider woman Witmua, and her lord Yuotoku, the spear user Tatsuki, and those fifthly bat demons that attacked on the day that it rained. They were all my servants. I sent them in order to take the jewels in your procession. They were all defeated, but I didn't expect them to win anyway."

"What about Risuba? Was she your servant too? And if you didn't expect them to win, why did you send them after us?"

"No. Risuba was an independent, but how I wish I had employed her in my service. And the only reason I sent them after you was to see how strong Syaoran has gotten over these past two years. I expected him to grow weaker, but I guess I underestimated him. I won't do that this time though. I have devised a strategy that will gain me the jewels for sure this time."

"Strategy?"

"It's actually quite simple really. I sent the three sisters just weaken Syaoran, and to give him a severe wound. Then kidnap you three. When he arrives he will be so weak from blood loss that he won't be able to put up a fight anymore, and it will be easy for my soldiers to take the jewels from him. Then these three move in, and kill the little bastard. After that, you three go." Sakura instantly grew worried. She didn't know Li was hurt that badly. "Even if he doesn't come, it will only take a matter of time to track him down, and eventually kill him. That wound will take at least a whole year to heal fully. This plan is foolproof."

"No it isn't," Sakura shot back. "The only fool there'll be is you, when Li comes and beats you with his eyes closed!" Erim just chuckled.

"You have that much confidence in him? You actually believe that he can win with all that I've stacked against him?"

"I know he can!" she exclaimed. "I know he can." Erim stood up, and shook his head as he walked out.

"Get ready," he muttered to the three sisters, who smirked darkly.

"So the moment has finally come at last," Tomoko said with dark excitement. "Which one of you want to take his head?"

"You're the eldest, you do it. But Yumi and I will make sure he stays down for it," Ami chuckled.

"Please wait!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed.

"You be quiet!" Tomoko hissed.

"Do you really believe that he did it? That Li killed your dad?" she asked quietly.

"Of course we do! We were right there when he did it! That bastard has no concern for human life at all! He butchered our father with no concern with who was watching! And now he has the nerve to deny it! He deserves to die for killing the only person we had left in the world!" the blue haired girl yelled. Sakura looked down with her bangs covering her eyes, taking in what Tomoko just said.

"I don't know much," she said finally, after two minutes of silence. "I don't know much about fighting, or magic, or martial arts, or demons. I don't know swords, or any other weaponry. I don't know about sprits or jewels, or anything like that."

"Where are you going with this?" Yumi asked annoyed

"But," Sakura continued as if she wasn't interrupted. "I do know one thing. And that's the look in a father's eyes when he looks at his daughter!"

"What?"

"I lost my mother when I was six, and my dad had to raise me and brother all on his own. He's a good person, and taught me to never to hold a grudge against people. And I bet your father taught you the same."

"Our father taught us to be strong, and fearless! He told us to always be proud, and he'll always be proud of us!" Ami shouted.

"If he taught you all that, can you imagine what he would say if he saw you guys now?" This seemed to reach the three sisters. "Would he still be proud, and look at you three with the same look of joy and love he always looked at you with?"

"What are you saying!" Tomoko exclaimed.

"I'm saying, even if you do kill Li, that will only be like spitting on your father's grave! Killing everything he wanted you be, all the hopes he had for you! No father wants to see his children go down a path of anger, and coldness. He was killed by someone I know, but don't you think he would rather you celebrate his life, than avenge it?"

"You don't know anything!" Yumi snapped. "You don't know anything about him or us for that matter! Don't think you can use your own father to judge ours!"

"You just don't get it do you? It doesn't matter what he taught you, or what you think he taught you. Parents all around the world have to same wish. To have their children grow up to be successful, and happy. There's no parent alive that wants a life of anger and vengeance for their child. Don't you see? The path you're going down now won't led you to happiness. It'll lead to more pain and sorrow! I know it's hard, but let it go! There's nothing you can do to bring him back! Not even if you do kill whoever killed him!"

The three sisters stood there, as if frozen in a shock like state, as if realizing this for the first time. Sakura couldn't tell if they were really taking in what she said, or just didn't have anything say. But for whatever reason they stood there not moving for a good ten minutes. Sakura wasn't sure because of the darkness of the small cabin, but she could have sworn she saw tears at the corner of their eyes as they stood there. Eventually Tomoko spun on her heal and muttered a quick 'let's go' to her sisters and they walked out without a word. Sakura hoped they would take what she said to heart. For both their sakes, and Li's.

"Hey, Sakura," a voice muttered quietly. Said girl turned and saw Tomoyo next to her tied to a pole as well. She saw Kero, still in his beast form, on the floor with his four paws tied together, and his wings tied down.

"Oh, Tomoyo, I didn't see you there. How are you feeling?"

"Pretty lousy," she replied with a soft giggle. "I heard what you said to the girls. It was great!"

"You really think so?"

"Uh-huh. Do you think they'll listen?"

"I'm not sure, but I hope I do."

OOOOO

Li growled as another wave of pain crashed upon his body as he tried to walk. He clutched the wound, and leaned against a tree for support as he waited for the pain spell to pass. He still had a long way to go, and he was barely a quarter of the way there, the wound was really slowing him down. He would have been dead right now, if the necklace he wore didn't have a healing element to it. It couldn't fully heal the wound, or the bones he had broken in the fall, but it could suppress the pain to some extent, and fix the broken the bones at least a little so it wouldn't bother him when he fought. But right now his mind wasn't on his wounds, the three sisters, Sakura and the others, or the jewels. No, his mind was on something that he found out only a few minutes ago.

'I can't believe that bastard! Why would he do something like that, and then leave for me to take all the blame! That bastard! If he wasn't already dead, I'd track him down and kill him myself!' When the shot of pain finally passed, Li pushed himself off the tree and continued on the way, with blood dripping out of his wound, and leaving a small trail as he walked.

OOOOO

Sakura wasn't sure exactly when she fell asleep, it must have been after she and Tomoyo talked for a few minutes. There wasn't much else to do in this cramped cabin anyway. But nevertheless she was awoken by the sudden yelling around the fort, and the sound of running feet around the cabin. She looked around, and noticed that the room was much darker than when she was last awake. Tomoyo, who was awake as well, seemed to notice it too. The door suddenly swung open to reveal Tomoko in the doorway. Behind her, was an orange red sky with the clouds matching it. In the distance, she saw a yellow orb slowly sinking beneath the hills. It was dusk, and the soldiers in the fort were getting in different positions around the walls and the front gate. Arches were placed on the battlements of the fort with their arrows ready. Some soldiers were placed to brace the front gate, and two units of soldiers were behind them to back them up. It was as if they were preparing for a fierce battle.

"He's come," Tomoko said simply, and untied them. "Follow me, and if you even think of trying to escape, I'll kill all three of you." The three of them nodded, and followed Tomoko out of the stuffy room. As they followed her, Sakura noticed the soldiers running around, shouting orders, following orders, and getting into positions. She had to ask herself, was all this necessary for one person? Tomoko led them to the side a large cabin, far lager than the others, Sakura had to guess it was Erim's quarters. Tomoko told them to climb up a ladder that was placed there. When they reached the roof, Erim, who was sitting on a chair with wine in his hands, greeted them.

"Greetings," he said casually. "I hope you will join me in watching Syaoran die from here."

"What makes you so sure you will?" Sakura asked. Erim chuckled as he took a sip.

"Sure," he said sarcastically.

"Master! He's here!" a soldier cried.

"Perfect," the thin man replied as he pulled out a spyglass, and focused on a small dot in the distance. "He won't make it past the archers!"

"Hey!" Tomoko hissed. "You promised my sisters and I that we were to take his head!"

"Silence!" Erim hissed back. "He's reached the gate."

Li watched with uncaring eyes as countless arrows were shot at him from the battlements of the fort. The young man closed his eyes as he reached for his sword. He didn't move an inch as the arrows shot towards him. They all passed him harmlessly.

"What! We missed! Reload!" When the arches went to aim, they found the young man was gone! "What! Where'd he…!" But before the captain could finish, a sword was stabbed through his stomach.

"Hi," Li muttered. The arches that recovered from the shock fired their arrows, only to hit each other as Li flipped off the battlements and into the center of the fort. The soldiers rushed towards him with their weapons drawn, and their loud cries filled the air. But their battle cries were replaced with cries of agony as the amber-eyed swordsman cut them up. Li dodged a spear thrust and gave the solider a deep upwards cut in his skin, then sliced off the heads of five approaching soldiers. Seeing no other way, the soldiers all came at him, surrounding him. When they all charged slashes and the sound of metal cutting through armor filled the air. In a matter of seconds, the charging soldiers were all dead, with deep slashes in their chests. When the soldiers all fell lifelessly, the onlookers received a good look of Li's empty and pupil-less amber eyes.

"How! How could someone move so fast!" Erim gasped as he watched from the roof. Li dashed past an incoming wave of soldiers, and the second he past them, they all fell in over in a pool of blood. Once he reached the cabins, archers from the rooftops aimed at him, and fired their arrows. They were shocked to see not only had all theirs missed their target, there was no target to begin with!

"What the hell! Where is he!"

"Look! Over there!" All the archers turned to the right to see Li standing on top of the wall with his sword in his mouth, and his hands in a seal position.

"Lighting!" he whispered. Lighting rained down on all the archers frying them instantly. Erim was physically shaking as he watched Li take an entire unit of soldiers in seconds. Tomoko was also quite shocked, how much was he holding back when they fought?

"Li…!" was all Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero could whisper as they watched their friend kill countless soldiers in seconds. A charge order reached the ears of the young man, who simply jumped down from the wall, and went into a stance. The more fearless of the soldiers charged first, only to be cut down before they could take another breath. The remaining soldiers in the fort took a few steps back before breaking out in a full-blown retreat.

"Monster! He's a monster!"

"Cowards! Get back here!" Erim shouted.

"You're not getting away," he muttered as he chased after them. They didn't stand a chance. Four seconds later, all were dead with deep slash mark all over their bodies.

"There's no way a human can move so fast!" Erim exclaimed.

"Well look who it is," Li said calmly. "Erim, still up to your old tricks again I see."

"You bastard! You shouldn't be moving at all! That wound should have you completely weakened by now! I had it all planned out!" Li just chuckled.

"Well that's what happens when you plan your enemy's moves for him, they completely surprise you!" With that the swordsman dashed towards Erim's cabin, but at that moment, a weight burst out from behind one of the cabins and shot towards Li's head. The young man quickly ducked and knocked it away with his sword, only to be blown back by petals.

"Well looks like we'll be able to fight him after all," Ami said as she jumped on top of cabin, with Yumi next to her. "Sister, let us have our fun with him first! Then we'll let you have the honors!"

"Fine, just don't take too long. I want my fun too," Tomoko replied.

"Okay, but no promises!" With that, Ami hurled the weight towards the young man, who swiftly jumped back, but was caught off guard when the weight suddenly came up from the hole, and continued its attack. The weight was inches away from smashing Li's face in when the young man bent his upper body backwards in order to save himself. Once he straightened himself out, he dashed towards the blonde with his sword ready. Ami let out a smug smirk, that's when Li's ears picked up a sudden _whoosh_ sound. He turned around and saw that the weight had made a complete u-turn in the air, and now was heading straight towards his skull.

"Damn it!" he growled and leapt into the air to avoid it. But once he looked up he met with pink, and was knocked into the roof of a cabin by a gust of pink petals. Above him was Yumi with her fan over her mouth, but he could tell she had a smug smirk on her face. As he was getting up the chain burst up from under the roof, and just barely missed his leg. The young man jumped back, but the weight made a sharp turn and collided into his stomach, making him cry out in pain as he crashed into the ground. He didn't even fully recover with Yumi blasted him through two cabins with a strong blast of petals.

"Li!" Sakura cried out.

"That's not fair!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "He's injured! He can't take on two people at once, let out two strong girls like them!"

"Silence!" Erim hissed as he pointed his sword at Tomoyo's face.

"I told you guys to let me have my fun too!" Tomoko called as Yumi and Ami approached the rubble.

"Sorry. He's just so weak right now, it's easy to get carried away. Don't worry, we won't kill him," Ami replied.

"We'll just make sure he isn't a corpse by the time you jump in!" Yumi giggled, and waved her fan. Petals shot out, and pulled Li out from the rubble. "Free hits!"

"Gladly. Snake Bind!" The blonde threw the chain, and it tightly wrapped around the trapped teen. "Here's where the fun begins. Yumi drop you're technique!"

"Right!" The second the petals dispersed, Ami began to swing the wrapped up Li around, and around. She began going to fast that the chain, and Li were nothing but blurs. The blonde, after five whole minutes, pulled on the chain, making the swordsman spin through the air like a top while he was fifty feet above the ground. He crashed through the roof of cabin, leaving a very large hole in it. Yumi rushed towards the cabin, which was practically on the other side of the fort. Li stumbled out of the door, using his sword to keep himself up, but that didn't last very long.

"Petal blades!" Pink petals surrounded him, and began to cut into his skin like small knives as they circled around.

'Damn it!' he growled.

"Ha, ha! Now take this!" Yumi waved her fan again, making Li fly through the air, and straight towards Ami, who hurled the metal weight at him. Li could tell it was aimed straight for the center of his forehead, which would kill him instantly. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his sheath, and held it in front of him. When the weight reached him, it wrapped around his sheath, saving him for now. Once he slid on the ground, Li sliced the chain in half.

"Nice one!" Sakura cheered.

"That ought to even things up," Li said with a smirk. But Ami returned the smirk.

"You would think." At that moment the cut off piece slithered back to its original position, and reattached itself. "Ha! This metal is a special demonic metal. It's filled with demonic aura, and once it's cut it automatically reattaches itself. And that's not all, it has no limit of chain. It just keeps growing and growing based on how much my aura I put in it."

"Great, just great."

"Now that's enough talking!" Ami leapt into the air, and hurled the weight towards the amber-eyed fighter, who quickly dodged it. But he walked right into a blast from Yumi, who was waiting for the right moment to attack. As he flew through the air, the chain wrapped around his neck, and pulled him towards Ami. The blonde smirked, and sliced his chest open with her mini-scythe, then threw him across the ground. The young man bounced against the ground, and slammed against the wall of a cabin.

"Li!" Sakura exclaimed and was about to jump down to help when Tomoko's sword was pressed against her throat.

"Didn't I tell you if you moved from this spot, you die?" the blue haired girl reminded her, but Sakura seemed unaffected.

"Does this seem right to you!" she exclaimed. "He's barely fighting back!"

"This what he gets for killing our father!" Ami yelled in reply.

"I didn't do it," Li growled quietly with blood trailing down the side of his head.

"This again," Yumi said as she was rolling her eyes. "We've had enough of your bullshit!"

"Call it that if you like, but it's the truth," he replied. "I don't care if you believe it or not. But the least I can do for you three misguided sisters is to tell who really killed him."

"Oh, let's just say we do believe you. Who was it then?" Ami asked obviously not caring.

"If you don't believe me what's the point of telling you then?" Li asked.

"Yeah, you're right," Ami said as she began to spin her chain around.

"Hold on!" Tomoko exclaimed. "Let's hear what he has to say." Yumi and Ami scowled.

"Don't tell your gonna believe what this bastard says are you Tomoko!" Ami yelled.

"If it will allow him to rest easier in death, then it's the least we can do." Ami let out a scoff, and Yumi just growled. "Tell us then, who killed our father?"

"You really want me to tell then huh? Somehow, I just don't feel like it anymore." The three girls practically fell over in shock.

"What!" they all shouted. "You bastard!" Li smirked as he got himself to his feet, and pulled out his sheath.

"Now let's finish this fight." Ami and Yumi just smirked.

"If you insist!" The pink haired girl suddenly vanished while the blonde hurled the weight towards the young man. Li quickly held up his sheath, and the weight wrapped around it. The young man then quickly put his sword in between his teeth and pulled on the chain. Ami suddenly flew in his direction, and the swordsman spat out his sword, and attacked with a strong downward strike that Ami blocked with her scythe. The young girl kicked the chestnut haired fighter in the chin, and flipped backwards to get away.

"That all you got?" he asked wiping the blood from his chin. Ami pulled on the chain, getting it to unwrap around the sheath, and began to twirl it around.

"Oh I still have a lot left! Snake Twister!" The blonde threw the chain weight, and it curled into a spiral as it moved through the air. Li didn't look very worried at all. He placed his sword next to his waist slid his right foot forward slightly.

"Are you asking to die!" Tomoko called from the roof. But all of a sudden a loud CLANG echoed through the air, and the chain weight flew through the air.

"I've told you cutting it off won't work! It will just reattach itself!" Ami laughed as the cut of end began to slither towards the chain. Li just smirked.

"I know, and I was counting on it!" he exclaimed and stomped on the piece, stopping it from moving. He then threw his sword to the side, and grabbed the chain with both hands.

"What the-!" But before Ami could say anything else, electricity suddenly entered her entire body, and she let out a loud cry as it shocked her all around. The second the electricity reached her brain, the blonde was out like a light, and fell to the ground like a rock.

"AMI!" the two remaining sisters screamed.

"You bastard! First you take our father, and now you take our sister!" Yumi screamed, and attacked with a wave of petals. Li had enough of these false allegations. He literally cringed in anger at Yumi's words. He pulled out a talisman from his cloak, and grabbed his sword.

"Damn it! I didn't kill your dad! MY FATHER DID!"

"What-!" Before Yumi could say anything more, the flames of his Li's fire talisman consumed her and her attack.

"YUMI, AMI!" Tomoko screamed.

"How…how did he beat them?" Erim asked in shock. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero were just as shocked. Li managed to beat both sisters with two major wounds on his body, was he even human?

"YOU ABSOULUTE BASTARD! FIRST MY FATHER AND NOW MY SISTERS! DO YOU ANY CONCERN FOR HUMAN LIFE AT ALL!"

"I'LL TELL YOU FOR ONE LAST TIME! MY FATHER KILLED YOUR FATHER!"

"Wh-what?"

AN: And so the truth is revealed. Yeah I know it was kind of easy to figure out it was Li's dad, that was the easy part. But the question is, WHY did he kill him? Eh, I'm not that proud of the fight scenes. It could have been better, but I figured I left you guys hanging long enough, and was overdue for an update. So sorry if it isn't as good as last chapter. Oh and don't expect anything special for Valentine's Day, it's too early for that. So anyway, sorry if I took too long, it was the normal stuff, school, and homework. And the fact that I temporarily lost the inspiration for this fic, mostly because I've been watching too much harem and romantic animes rather than swordplay animes, which give me ideas. But this chapter is out, so I'm sure you guys are happy. So without further ado, here's the preview for the final chapter of this arc.

_Sakura: So it was Li's father who killed Tomoko's father? Why would he do that? _

_Tomoyo: I'm not sure, but that's the last thing on Li's mind as he takes on both Tomoko and Erim! How can he beat these two strong opponents? _

_Sakura: One's thing for sure he can't do it alone, no matter what he may say. But can Li really convince Tomoko that what he's saying is true? Find out in "The Sword of Truth" next time on Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya soon. _


	39. Sword of Truth

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 39

The air was silent as the orange red sky slowly began to replace by a dark blue sky with the sliver dots. Even with the decrease in temperature no one moved, or shivered. Even with the bodies littered about the fort, neither Sakura nor Tomoyo moved. Even with her sisters' bodies among the corpses Tomoko didn't move, neither did Erim. Li had just taken out almost every soldier in the fort and Yumi and Ami with severe wounds in stomach and chest. And to add to the tension, he had just revealed that it was his father that killed the sisters' father. Li didn't say a word as he wiped the blood off his sword. The onlookers finally found their voices when Li said a brief, but fierce,

"What?" It was Tomoko who found her voice first, but rather than anger, it was shock, and a hint of sadness in her voice.

"You…killed my sisters! And now you're saying that it was your father who killed mine! What makes you any better than your father!" Li just let out a sigh as he turned towards her.

"It doesn't matter," he muttered coldly. "All that matters is you know you really did it. And I don't care if you believe me or not."

"Are you really going to believe the killer of your father Tomoko? Especially after he killed your sisters, what makes you think you can trust him?" Erim said with a chuckle. "Go down there and kill him! You have the perfect chance, he's injured, and you can still have your revenge!"

It was at that moment that Sakura realized how Erim was able to manipulate Tomoko and her sisters. He and whoever convinced them that Li killed their father used the emotionally unstable state to mold them, and shape them into vengeful killers. If they weren't so blind with ideas of revenge and killer instinct Sakura knew they would listen to what Li was saying. It also explained why they didn't think of what their father would think about them if he saw them now.

"No," Li said suddenly. "Don't just send her Erim, come down here and fight me too. The both of you, come at me all at once."

"Are you nuts Li!" Sakura exclaimed. "At least let Kero or I help you. You're wounds are too severe for you to be fighting them!"

"Shut up, and stay out of this!" the swordsman snapped at her. "This is my fight." Sakura let a frustrated scowl cross her face. Even if he said that, she could tell those wounds were causing more pain than he let on. The blood staining his robes almost completely covered over the green, and she noticed from the fast rising and falling of his chest, he was breathing hard.

"Even so," Sakura started, feeling a little brave. "With those wounds you'll be at a serious disadvantage! There's no way you can fight the both of them."

"Just watch me," Li growled as he walked over to the cabins. "Come on you two. Let's get this over with while we're still young!" Tomoko spat, and jumped off of the roof, landing two feet away from Li.

"Fine. I'll drag out your death as long as I can. For my sisters and my father!"

"I didn't-!" the swordsman started then scoffed and turned away from Tomoko. "Forget it. I'm sick of saying it."

"Good, because I'm sick of hearing it!"

"Can we forget all this melodrama and get onto the real reason we're both down here," Erim said when he appeared behind Li, who quickly took note of his presence. "Tomoko, attack!"

"Yes sir!" Li, who had been keeping his eye on Erim, snapped his head towards Tomoko, who attacked with a powerful downward strike that would easily slice him in half. In no time at all, the amber haired fighter drew his sword and intercepted the powerful attack with a block. Li snapped his head behind him, only to see that Erim was gone. The young man let out a scoff before pushing Tomoko back. The young girl charged and attacked with a fast horizontal slash that Li quickly jumped away from, but Tomoko kept coming with a fast thrust. Li knocked it away and gave the young girl a quick kick to her stomach. Tomoko dug her foot into the ground to stop herself from going too far, and used it as a push off into a fast thrust attack. The young man just barely managed to move out of the way, which resulted in him have a new cut on the upper part of his chest. Just as the swordsman was about to counter, Tomoko attacked with a sudden kick that connected square in his chest, right on the wound Ami inflicted on him. Needless to say the young man went flying.

He crashed through two cabins and bounced on the ground like a ball three times before coming to a complete stop. But before he could fully recover Erim popped out of nowhere with a loud cry, and attacked with a downward stab that was impaired deeply in his shoulder. Erim smirked darkly as he pulled out his sword and readjusted it for a downward slice position. Li quickly saw his intention and brought him to the ground with a leg sweep. Just as the young man got to his feet however, Tomoko crashed through whatever was left of the cabins and gave him a strong punch to his stomach, making him cough up almost two pints worth of blood. As he stepped back, Erim jumped up and sliced his back open with a deep cut. Tomoko suddenly came in with a punch that was aimed for the center of his forehead, which Li knew would crack his skull open. Thinking quickly he bent his body backwards and the punch passed over him and collided with Erim's face, making him go flying.

'That's one down,' Li thought as he dodged another punch.

"You know, for someone who just punched their master fifty feet away, you certainly aren't too shook up about it," the swordsman said, jumping away from a sidekick.

"With you so close to dying by my hands, I don't care who gets in my way!" The blue haired girl attacked with a fast straight thrust that Li quickly pushed upwards, and gave her a quick jab to her stomach. The girl grunted before countering with a right hook towards Li's temple. As the young man bent backwards, his opponent spun on her heel, and came around with a kick that sent him flying sideways across the ground. Li quickly flipped in order to land on his feet, but the second he was steady, Tomoko appeared in front of him and attacked with another punch. The swordsman quickly moved his head out of the way, and turned himself into a swift horizontal slash. Tomoko parried the attack, and countered with a jab towards his chest. Li jumped back and whipped out one of his talismans.

"Element Lighting!" Tomoko just laughed and put up her glove, absorbing the blast.

"I thought I told you, you're electrical attacks have no effect on me! However, I can throw them back at you!" With her other hand unleashed the same attack back to the sender.

"Damn! I forgot about that!" Li cursed as he jumped in the air the air, only to be slammed back into the ground by Tomoko. The young man rolled out of the way as she came down, with a bang, creating a large hole in the process. The blue haired girl shot forward attack with fast thrust that Li blocked, and countered with a downward strike. Tomoko spun out of the way, and nailed the young man with a sidekick to his ribs. As he slid across the ground, Tomoko jumped into the air and came down a punch ready to crush his chest. The amber-eyed fighter swiftly rolled backwards, leaving Tomoko to hit nothing but the ground. He then pushed off his back leg, and knocked the girl into a cabin with a fast sidekick.

Li took a deep breath and took a knee, taking this as a break. He shook off a spell that came from his growing blood loss. But he refused to collapse; he had to finish this fight. He looked over his shoulder, expecting Erim to pop out of nowhere and attack him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Tomoko must have punched him harder than he thought. He must be knocked out, Li figured. He looked to his left and saw Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero watching the fight intently. He had almost to forgotten about them to be honest. (Same here.)

"Hey Li!" Tomoyo called. "Is it over?"

"No!" he shouted back. "Just stay there, and let me finish this!"

"But, you're hurt!" Sakura argued. "You're bleeding so much in the front and back it's only a matter of time before you collapse! Let me or Kero take over."

"No!" he snapped. "I told you, this is my fight! Don't interfere!"

"He's so stubborn," Sakura muttered.

"Yeah, much like your brother," Tomoyo agreed with a small giggle.

"Maybe. But I think not even Touya would refuse help with blood coming out from three places in his body. But then again, I could be wrong." However, at that moment Li wasn't thinking about his wounds or his opponent. Much to his own surprise, he was thinking about his father. The man he hadn't thought of since he was 5.

'Why would he do something like that?' he asked himself. 'And why did he come back. Mother told me he left three months after I was born. I don't even know his face. All I know is that I got my amber eyes from him. Mother didn't talk about at all either.' He thought as his mind drifted back to his childhood.

_Flashback _

"_Mama," a five-year-old Li asked one day. "Where's daddy?" The tall woman who had her back to him with long silky hair in a high ponytail, and white robes, literally cringed at this. In a split second she whirled around and gave the small child such a hard slap that he fell to the ground. _

"_Don't you ever mention your father in my presence again!" she exclaimed with tears at the corner of her eyes. "He's nothing but a damn coward, and I was fool to marry to him! He's gone Syaoran, and he's never coming back! He left three months after I gave birth to you!" _

"_I'm sorry mama," he whispered with tears forming in his eyes. _

"_Don't you dare cry, you pathetic child! Get out of my sight! Wei!" she called. In a few seconds a middle aged butler appeared at his mistress's side. _

"_You called ma'am?" he asked with a humble bow. _

"_Take him away," she ordered, turned on her heel, and left. _

"_Mama," the toddler whispered. _

_End Flashback_

'Yeah, just so much as mention father around mother, and she would lash out at the closest thing possible. Most times, me, other than that, she would just ignore me. Just like everyone else.'

Before he was completely lost in thought, Tomoko exploded from the rubble he kick her into, and was flying towards him with a thrust attack. With hardly any time to think, Li quickly raised his sword, and blocked the attack with the flat end. But the sheer force of the attack caused him to lose his balance and fall flat on his back with Tomoko on top of him. Much his dismay and annoyance, the force of his fall caused him to let go of his sword, and it flew two feet away from him. To make matters worse, Tomoko raised her weapon like an axe, ready to slice him in two.

"Now die!" she screamed.

"Shit," he muttered as the metal came down towards him like a rock. Without real thought, the young man slammed his hands against the two sides of the swords, catching it, but Tomoko had put so much force behind the blow, it was still inches away from his face.

"Let…go…!" she said in between growls.

"Why…and ruin all this…fun?" Li replied sarcastically. Tomoko let out another growl before she pushed her sword further down, making Li struggle harder to keep it up. With the last of his strength, the swordsman pushed the blade to the side, providing him with the brief second he needed to head butt the blue haired girl in the center of her forehead, knocking her back. Just as she was about to come back with another sword strike, Li pulled his legs back, nailed the girl in her chest, knocking her to the ground. The young man rolled backwards and grabbed his sword in one swift motion.

"Not bad," Tomoko admitted as she wiped the blood from her forehead.

"Plenty more where that came from," Li replied with a smirk that Tomoko mirrored.

"I doubt that," she replied as she shifted into a stance with her sword in a thrust position next to her ear. "I'm going to end this now." Li narrowed his eyes as he recognized that stance.

"Bring it on." The cool wind of the night blew through the damaged fort as the bright orb known as the sun sunk beneath the hills in the far distance. Tomoko bent her knees, and began to gather her aura. The swordsman simply sheathed his sword, and closed his eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Tomoko exclaimed.

"You'll see," Li said simply. Tomoko scoffed, but eventually closed her eyes as well to effectively gather her aura.

"Now!" she exclaimed, snapping her eyes open. "Ultimate Serika Sword Style Technique: Three Tiger Strike! One!" The young man thrust out her sword, releasing a powerful blast that tore up the ground as it blasted towards its target. With his eyes still closed, Li simply sidestepped the attack as if it were nothing. "Two!" With a wild swing came another powerful blast of aura, that the amber-eyed boy avoided by flipping over the incoming attack with his eyes still closed.

"Does Li have any idea what he's doing?" Tomoyo wondered.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like he's figured out how to beat her," Sakura replied.

"What makes you so sure?" Kero wondered.

"I don't know, it's just a feeling." The three of their heads were snapped back to the fight when they heard Tomoko yell out,

"Three!" She dashed over to Li with speed neither of them could keep track of. The girl attacked with a thrust with enough force behind it to bring down an entire wall of a castle. At that moment, Li's eyes snapped open, and with his sword still in its sheath, he interrupted the incoming attack with a block that pushed it to the side. Tomoko, as a result of the sudden motion, lost her footing, and began to fall forward. In that same second, Li drew his sword, turned on his heel, and thrust out the weapon behind him. Tomoko froze in place, and dropped her sword. Li had impaired the young woman in the center of her chest. Without any second thoughts, Li pulled out his sword from her chest, allowing her to drop to the ground like a rock with blood flowing out of the wound.

"Li! You went too far!" Sakura exclaimed. "You didn't have to kill her!"

"She's far from dead," the young man replied.

"That's right," the blue haired girl panted, as she slowly got back to her feet. From what could tell, she was on her last legs though. So was he for that matter. He had left his wounds open for too long, his vision was getting blurred. If it continued like this, he would collapse in minutes. But Tomoko, he could tell was as bad as he was. He could tell whichever move the two of them made, would be the last attack of this fight. The two combatants struggled to get their breathing under control as they slowly moved towards each other. Their grip on their swords tightened, and the tension rose to unspeakable levels when the combatants were only a few away from each other.

"This is it. The last attack," Kero announced. "You can feel it in their auras. They plan to kill one another with this last attack."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "There's no stopping it, no matter we say."

While Tomoko shifted into her familiar stance, Li threw his sword to the side, and raised his right palm.

"This is all I'll need to beat you," he declared. Tomoko raised an eyebrow, but besides that, had no other reaction. In three minutes their auras were fully flared and their eyes were fixed on each other. Nothing could break their cold gaze.

"Ultimate Serika Style Sword Technique:….."

"Lighting……!" Li's normally green aura became yellow like lighting as it began to completely cover his right palm. The mixture of the two's auras began to tear up the ground, and make the remaining cabins collapse including the one Sakura and the others were standing on. The girls quickly jumped on Keroberos's back and watched the remainder of the fight from the sky. Just as they looked down was when the two combatants made their final attacks.

"Three Tiger Strike!"

"Tiger Claw!" Li dashed towards Tomoko with his right palm completely covered with his electric aura, and Tomoko fired her two blasts as he dashed at her. The young man dodged the two attacks with ease, and pulled back his right palm just as Tomoko thrust out her final sword attack. The second the two attacks met, a bright yellow flash covered the entire fort, blinding the three onlookers. When the flash subsided, it revealed Li and Tomoko lying facedown in the dirt, completely lifeless.

"Li!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Man, just what hell just happened?" Kero wondered as he swooped down.

"Such powerful attacks," Tomoyo commented as she looked around at the damage around them. "Is Li okay Sakura?"

"He's fine, but his wound are still pretty bad. He'll defiantly die of blood loss if we don't do something soon," she replied. A cold laugh from above them snapped the three remaining out of their thoughts and towards the voice, which belonged to Erim.

"That plan worked perfectly," he chuckled as he stood on top of the debris of a cabin. "The long term one, and the short term ones."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, already not liking where this was going. Erim let out another laugh.

"The Serika style is, or was, a powerful fighting technique. It could be adapted with any weapon or fighting style. Any wise lord would want at least one expert in his army of soldiers. And that's just what my master Viga wanted. Unfortunately, at the time he needed it the most, most of the students were at war and the master was an old fart! And the only ones remaining were his three children. So in order to insure that Viga had that style at his disposal I came up with a little plan you see."

"What plan," Sakura growled, her anger already rising.

"It's another very simple plan really. I used a transformation spell to turn myself into Syaoran's father. Instigate a raid on the town where they lived, and kill the father in front of the kids. The kids so blinded with the thoughts of revenge would follow whoever could provide the murderer and the power they needed to kill him without question. And that's exactly what we did. Such foolish girls!" Erim laughed.

"But why turn yourself into Li's dad?" Tomoyo asked. "Why not just Li? And why did you have to tell them it was Li who did it?"

"Well his father was the best swordsman in the land at that time. For him to kill the master, would be a very scandalous act indeed. It would only shame his name. However when I executed the plan I forgot that no one knew where his father was, and it would be no fun if they couldn't confront the 'murderer' so Viga simply blamed Syaoran. It's as simple as that. And this entire fight here, all went according to my plan as well. I am not strong enough to beat Syaoran and take the jewels from him alone. So by completely wearing him down makes it as easy as taking candy from a baby!" Erim let out another laugh at this, but was cut short when he was blown to the ground by a powerful wave of wind.

"You…bastard!" Sakura growled. "You've toyed with the hearts of those innocent girls! You traumatized them for life! And you have no remorse! I can't stand people like you! People like you, should just die!" With those words, a white glow completely surrounded Sakura.

"Uh oh! This again!" Tomoyo said as she shielded her eyes from the intensity of the light. It a matter of minutes, a womanlier figure of Sakura had replaced the petite girl that was standing there minutes ago. Her long amber hair swayed in the wind, and her eyes looked at Erim with pure vice and malice.

"Come," she said simply. Erim was completely shocked. The girl that was enraged at his actions a few minutes ago had transformed herself into some kind of womanly form. Who, or what was this girl? The man took a step back, thinking to distract her, in order to regroup and come up with a plan to beat her. However that idea was cut down when he bumped into someone behind him.

"What the-!" But he didn't finish since he was blown through the wall of his own fort with a powerful burst of wind.

"No running," Sakura stated coldly.

'Amazing!' Tomoyo thought in awe. 'I didn't even see her move!'

'There's no way a normal human could move that fast!' Kero thought. 'I just blinked and missed her movement completely!' Erim crawled through the hole, his head bleeding at the forehead, and his right arm broken. Desperate to get away, he reached into his cloak and pulled out three small black balls.

"Smoke bombs!" he exclaimed as he threw them. The second they hit the ground black smoke covered the entire fort, making sight practically impossible. "HA! By the time this smoke clears I'll be long gone!" Erim confidence was shattered in a matter of five seconds when all his smoke was blown away with a simple blow from Sakura.

"No escaping."

"Wh…What the hell are you!" he shouted as he just turned around and ran for dear life. But he didn't get far. Just as he reached the outside of the fort, he was hurled in the air by a powerful wind.

"You who have toyed with the hearts of innocent," Sakura said as she raised her index and middle finger. "May you pay with your life! Wind Blade!" With a swing of her fingers a blast of wind burst through the air, and sliced off the head of the failing Erim. When his headless body hit the ground with a loud thud, Sakura walked over to the bodies of Ami, and Yumi. She placed her glowing hands on their foreheads reviving them instantly.

"Uh…what the hell just happened?" Yumi asked with a groan.

"How am I supposed to know?" Ami replied. Sakura repeated the same process with Li and Tomoko, who were up within seconds, with their wounds completely healed.

"Damn, my head," the young man groaned.

"Feels like I was run over by twenty horses," Tomoko muttered. The blue haired girl turned to Li, and much to Tomoyo's and Kero's surprise, asked a simple question. "Who are you?" Li raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure exactly how much his last attack affected her, but he was sure it wasn't enough to cause memory loss. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he knew he wasn't going to start up this whole situation again by being truthful.

"No one important. Go join your sisters. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you." Tomoko nodded, and ran to meet her just as confused sisters. Li turned to Kero, and Tomoyo, who now holding an unconscious Sakura in her arms.

"Have a nice nap?" she asked him with smile.

"I have no idea what the hell is going on. But I have a feeling that you're all responsible for it in some way or another."

"Whatever do you mean?" Tomoyo asked innocently. Li just rolled his eyes and got up.

"Never mind. Let's just go. In someway or another this whole thing is over. Now come on before I leave you guys here." With that, and not a word to the sisters, Li walked out of the fort.

'I think I understand,' Tomoyo thought. 'Sakura wanted to give them a fresh start. She wanted them to live their lives free of their anger and thirst for revenge. I'm not sure how, but then again, anything is possible with her.'

'Complete and utter memory erase,' Kero thought, and turned his gaze to Sakura, who was sleeping on his back. 'Just who is this girl?'

AN: Man this chapter was crap! Not at all the kind of climatic ending you guys were expecting I bet. But for the life of me I couldn't think of how to end this. I mean for the most part, the ultimate fate of all villains is death. (In my stories anyway) But the sisters weren't really villains, they were just misguided, so it just didn't feel right to kill them. But because of that I truly had no idea how to end this. Which is why it took so long for it to come out, that and a crap load of schoolwork, plus track practice everyday. Anyway, sorry if this chapter was crap, I couldn't think of anything else, and this story was long overdue for an update. I seem to be in a kind of slump for this story right now. It's probably because I didn't plan out this particular arc too well. I hope I'll get out of it as I go into later arcs. Want to hear something that I know either make you really happy or just groan. Well I was in class and it was really boring so I started to plan out the chapters and arcs for the later parts of this fic. And well to make a long story short, I reached well over 100 chapters! Which was what I was aiming for chapter wise. But as I looked at it, even with 100 chapters I still wasn't into the main storyline or arcs yet. And don't say just drop a couple of arcs or chapters because they provide important information about the characters that will be very important later on. So should I just keep it one long story or divide it into separate stories? Well anyway here's the preview for the next chapter, which I hope will be much better than the pile of crap I call this chapter.

_Tomoyo: Ohhohoho! What's this? A handsome guy saves Sakura, and says his heart was completely taken captive of her beauty. _

_Li: (Scoffs) He's just a lame smooth talker, don't believe a word he says_

_Tomoyo: Is that jealousy I hear in your voice Li? _

_Li: Shut up! Why the hell should be jealous of that loser? Guys like him only bring trouble anyway._

_Tomoyo: I know we shouldn't be too trusting of people, but how can we not trust someone so nice? Trust and friendship are put to the test in "The Bandit Leader Taiso" See ya soon! _


	40. The Bandit Leader Taiso

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 40

"Man! I'm starving!" Was what echoed through the forest one afternoon, it was soon followed by a cold 'shut up!' then followed by the impact of a body hitting the dirt. For the most part it was an average day for the small group, so far anyway.

"How long are we going to be in this stupid forest! It feels like we've been here for months!" Kero complained.

"Shut up!" Li growled, his patience already wearing thin. "It's only been a few days. Besides, that whole Tomoko, and her sisters incident set us back a few days."

"I still can't believe that Tomoko and her sisters just up and forgot about you like that," Sakura commented. "Just what did you do to her Li?" At that comment, Li stopped for a few seconds before walking again.

"It wasn't anything I did," he muttered.

"Eh? What do you mean? You were the one fighting her," Sakura said in a confused tone. Li shot her a look that seemed as if he was analyzing her from the face down to her feet, and Sakura could easily sense what he was doing, but couldn't understand why. "Li? What is it? What's wrong?" The swordsman turned on his heel, and replied with a brief,

"Nothing," before continuing to walk.

"Nothing?" Sakura repeated still confused.

'No matter how you look at her, she's just a normal girl with slightly over average magical power. But still, her aura can skyrocket out of nowhere. What kind of person is she?' Li thought. 'To find out, I may need _his _help.' The amber-eyed young man literally cringed as he walked. 'I hate asking him for ANYTHING especially help! But there's no one else I know who can successfully fully analyze her. Damn it, I never gonna hear the end of this.'

"Hey Li, you okay?" Tomoyo asked appearing right in front of his face, completely startling him.

"What the hell! Where'd you come from? Don't do that again damn it!" The girl just let out a giggle as she turned to Sakura.

"He's just fine Sakura-chan, profanity in check, and all," Tomoyo called. Li just raised an eyebrow. "You completely zoned out and nearly walked into a tree!" His eyes fully refocused to his surroundings, and a foot from his eyes was the thick bark of a tree. Li internally scolded himself for losing track of his surroundings so easily. Luckily for him, before the two girls could press him more about the matter, Kero spotted something.

"Hey look! A river!" he declared. "I can take a bath!" Sakura looked at each other and smiled.

"Well our clothes are overdue for a wash, and so are we," Tomoyo stated, making Sakura squeak.

"Eh? Do you know how cold that water must be? It's impossible to take a bath in that!" Tomoyo just laughed as she dragged the girl along.

"You have to take what you get Sakura-chan." As the three disappeared through the bushes, Li let out an annoyed scoff and leapt into a tree to relax in the sunrays that were peaking through the thick canopy above. With the mixture of the quiet, which was a rare thing for him to experience recently, the tranquil, and gentle green of the forest, and the light breeze flowing through air, it only took a few minutes for the young man to doze off into a well worth nap.

OOOOO

Sakura shivered as her fingers entered the ice-cold river water as she refilled her water bottle. The water was much colder than Tomoyo had expected. Kero only lasted about four seconds in it before he flew out shaking like an earthquake. The river was located at the edge of a clearing in the forest. The grass met with stones and pebbles at the bank and across the flowing water were a group of bushes and some trees that towered over them. The actual river was about five feet wide, and overflowed at part of the bank they were standing on.

"Well it's too cold to take a bath, but we can at least wash some of our clothes," Tomoyo suggested. Sakura was about to agree when the bushes behind them rustled. The young girl instantly tensed, which didn't go unnoticed by her best friend. "What is it?"

"I think someone is coming," she whispered. As if on cue a group of ten or twelve brash looking men stepped through the bushes. They wore brutish faces, most had scars going across their cheeks and eyes. Sakura could tell most hadn't bathed by their strong smell. They wore damaged samurai armor with their swords still at their sides, and some had long spears attached to their backs. Their leader smirked perversely at the two surprised girls.

"Well look at this boys, after three long days of battle, fate has awarded us with two beautiful young girls," his chuckle and the glint in his eyes displayed his lecherous thoughts like a sign in large lettering. Sakura instantly tensed up, and settled herself in front of Tomoyo. Her normally innocent, and carefree emerald eyes, were quickly transformed into a stern glare. Unfortunately, for her, her glare only made the men laugh out loud.

"Oh look at that boys, this little girls want to play it rough!" their leader laughed.

"I love the rough stuff!" one of the thugs laughed. "Why not come over here, and show us what you know." Sakura curled her right hand into a fist. She quickly scanned the ground for a stick she could use, but since the entire bank was nothing but pebbles, she was out of luck this time. Her attention quickly snapped back to the men when she heard the shuffling of the pebbles beneath them, they were getting closer, and with the river behind them, the girls truly had no means of escape.

"What's the matter sweetie?" another samurai thug laughed perversely. "You're not scared are you?"

"Nothing to be afraid of, we'll be gentle." Sakura let out a small growl, she wanted to blow them away with her wind, but there were too many, and if it weren't strong enough, they would move in. And from their scars, and damaged armor, they were seasoned fighters.

"Sakura," Tomoyo whispered. "What's the plan?"

"I'm working on it," Sakura replied as the men advanced.

"Hate to pester, but could you think faster?"

"Hold on," Sakura hissed back. But when she refocused on the men, their leader was already practically two inches from her face. He let out a dirty grin, which matched the just as dirty and scarred hand that cupped her chin.

"Now how about a nice warm up kiss eh?" Sakura was about to blow the man away when a strong voice yelled out,

"Animals!" About ten throwing stars were thrown from the trees, making the samurais jump back.

"What! Who the hell's there!" the leader shouted. On cue a lone figure flipped out from the trees to reveal a young man with short black hair. He wore an orange robe with some samurai armor over it, and metal kneepads and elbow pads. On both his hips were two sheathed swords attached together by a black rich looking belt. His hazel eyes stared at the men with pure disgust.

"It takes all ten of you to harass two cute girls like this? How pathetic."

"You brat watch your mouth!" the leader shouted. The young just chuckled.

"Or what? There's no way you losers can even touch me." The samurais growled and drew their swords in an instant. The young did the same revealing his two broad swords.

"We'll cut you up in so many pieces kid, they won't tell your finger from your eye!"

"You just try it," the young man said as he twirled the swords around like batons. "You girls stay back. Oh, and don't blink, this won't last very long." He gave the two girls a quick wink before turning his attention to the approaching samurai.

"You're right kid! This will be quick!" With that the leader brought down his sword with enough force to make a hole in the ground, but the young man only sidestepped out of the way, and slashed open his side. Horrified at the fate of their leader, the remaining nine samurai charged with fierce yells and their swords ready to cut. The swordsman only smirked and rushed towards them with his swords twirling. He blocked the downward strike of one, and gave him a swift boot to his stomach, making him bend forward. He smirked and used his exposed back as a springboard. The swordsman did a flip in mid-air, and stomped on the men's helmets like rocks as he went across them. Only three remained. Not taking a hint, they rushed forward, and the young man smirked.

"Idiots." The swordsman rushed passed them and stopped right in front of Sakura and Tomoyo. "Hi," he greeted.

"Uh…. Hi," Sakura repeated, a little flustered at his closeness. "But what about those guys, and who are you?"

"They're though." As if on cue, the three samurai who seemed frozen in time, fell over like rocks. "And my name is Taiso, and you girls are?"

"I'm Tomoyo Daidouji, and this my friend, Sakura Kinomoto," Tomoyo introduced. Taiso took Sakura's hand and kissed it.

"It's a pleasure. And might I say your name is just as beautiful as your face." Sakura instantly turned as red as a tomato, while Tomoyo was resisting the urge to laugh out loud at Sakura's reaction. Though it was perfectly understandable, she's never been the object of a boy's affection before sure they were a couple of boys back home who had crushes on her, but they would never come up and say such things to her. Must have been because of Touya. And it wasn't like Li would ever say such things to her either. Tomoyo's stifle giggle only increased as she thought about that kind of situation happening.

"Uh….thank you…." Was all Sakura could say to reply.

"Hey!" a young voice called out from the trees. "Is it safe Taiso!" the young man turned his head to the voice.

"Yeah!" At those words three others jumped out from the spot Taiso had come from. The first was very young, probably only eight years old. He wore a simple brown tunic, and had long hair that went down to his waist. His face was filled with dirt smudges, and his feet bore no sandals or shoes so they were covered with scars, and scratches.

The second was tall and lean. His brown eyes held no emotion, but they were hard to see with the long bangs of his bowl cut hair covering it. He wore an outfit similar to Taiso's only he had a sword on his back. And the final new arrival, could probably be seen from a mile away because of his protruding stomach. He wore a simple thin jacket with no shirt underneath, and pants that stopped at his ankles. He and no weapons that the girls could see, which showed he used his body as a weapon. How, the girls did not want to find out.

"Let me introduce you. This is Yuji," he pointed to the young boy "That's Toyomi," he introduced pointing to the tallest. "And finally that's Huijou."

"We're Taiso's helpers!" Yuji said energetically.

"Helping with what?" Tomoyo wondered.

"We're protectors of this forest. Making sure that no harm befalls the innocent," Taiso answered proudly.

"So, who are the unlucky bastards this time?" Huijou asked.

"Just some samurai again. Must have been some sort of battle, since this is the third group in two days that have crossed here," Taiso answered. "Take their weapons, so that when they wake up they won't hurt anyone again." His three helpers nodded and began to take the weapons.

"He's noble," Tomoyo whispered to Sakura. When she didn't answer Tomoyo looked at her and giggled. Sakura was still in a daze from Taiso's words at her earlier.

"You girls are welcome to stay with us for the night, it might be dangerous for you the rest of the way," Taiso offered. Tomoyo was about to decline knowing that danger wasn't an actual factor for them, when Kero decided to wake up.

"We'll take it!" he exclaimed. Ignoring Kero, Taiso walked over to Sakura and took her hands again.

"You honor me," he said softly, making Sakura become even redder. But her fluffy moment was interrupted by a harsh voice.

"Just what's going on?" All heads turned to Li who jumped down from the branch he was standing on.

"Who are you!" Taiso exclaimed drawing his swords.

"I should be asking you the same question," Li replied sternly reaching for his sword, all the while, giving Taiso his trademark glare. Tomoyo and Sakura sweatdropped, they wanted to see the fight, but it was better that they broke it up before it went too far.

"Uh, it's okay Taiso, he's our friend," Tomoyo interrupted. This new information only made Taiso's glare worsen.

"What! You're they're traveling companion and you let them walk through these woods alone? What kind of man are you! Oh don't answer that I already know, the lowest of the low. The worst kind!" Li raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" he replied surprisingly calm, but his eyes betrayed that outer exterior. It was obvious Li wanted to slice him into pieces right then and there. "Who the hell are you to judge me? You just mind your own damn business!"

"How can I when I know a lowly animal like you is watching these innocent maidens! God knows what you do to them at night!" A vein popped on Li's head. "It's my duty to protect them from scum like you!"

"In my opinion, the only scum here is the dumbass in front of me who keeps shooting out lame crap!"

"Oh so I'm scum now for doing the duty that every man should do!"

"If you mean pick up girls with cheap words then yeah!" Taiso didn't reply, but shot a death glare at Li, who countered it with his own. The onlookers deeply sweatdropped at the exchange before them, not having the heart or the courage to stop the bickering two.

"You want to stop them or should I?" Tomoyo asked.

"I don't wanna die," Kero replied.

OOOOO

After much convincing, and two more rounds of throwing insults at each other, Li and Taiso finally stopped bickering and Taiso was leading the small group to his hideout. This would all be fine, if he didn't have his arm around Sakura's shoulders.

"You'll love it there Sakura," he said. "It has a nice view, and a great river to swim in!"

"B-But… I didn't bring any swimming stuff…" Sakura stammered. A boy had never been this close to her before, or had said such things to her either, she had no idea how to react.

"They say a good swim is one that is taken naturally." Sakura instantly flustered.

"How can she fall for such bullshit?" Li muttered angrily.

"Ohohoho, is that jealously I hear in your voice Li?" Tomoyo teased.

"Say what! Jealous of what, him! Don't make me laugh! He's just a lame smooth talker!" Taiso stopped walking and whirled around at Li.

"What did you call me?"

"What, should I list stone deaf as one your faults as well?" The two teens exchanged death glares again, but before they could go off again Yuji spoke up.

"Hey come on guys we've made it." Taiso smirked and turned around. The small group just looked around, they were nowhere special. The only thing that truly stuck out a them was the large tree with bare branches that towered over the others. It had a hole in the center, which was mostly likely made by a woodpecker, and its bark was white instead of brown.

"Uh…Taiso…this is your hideout?" Tomoyo asked. Taiso just chuckled.

"Of course not Tomoyo. Toyomi, if would do the honors." The tall teen nodded, and went through a series of seals before hitting his palm against the odd tree. There was a large white flash that blinded them for a few seconds. When it faded it revealed a well developed, but small village. It had many cabins made of wood, a large fireplace in the center, and many young men walking about and chattering amongst themselves. Horses trotted about, and there even some cows.

"What you saw before a concealing spell, we can't have everyone knowing about this place," Huijou explained.

"You can stay in that cabin," Taiso pointed to one closest to the fireplace in the center. "But if you want," he whispered to Sakura. "You can stay in my cabin." Sakura was flustered again, and could only stammer a weak "um."

"And yet she can't," Li interrupted. "Because she'll be training tonight." This caught Sakura's attention.

"Eh! Training! Can't I have one night to rest!" she protested.

"No! Last battle you were captured, how can you be a capable, useful fighter if you're being captured all the time!"

"You actually allow her to train!" Taiso exclaimed. "You truly are the worst!"

"Hey, mind your damn business! It doesn't concern you!"

"Yes it does! How can send such an innocent maiden into battle! Don't you have any concern for her well being!"

"Not at all. Why the hell should I be constantly worrying about her when she can take care of herself? It's just a waste of time that way."

"Anyway!" Kero interrupted. "What kind of food you got here!"

"Oh lots!" Huijou replied excitedly. "We have all kinds from what we take from the bad guys!"

"Any sweets?" Kero asked excitedly.

"Of course!" The little beast soared in the air with pure excitement and bliss.

"This is my kind of place!"

"Save the sweets for later Huijou," Taiso said. "We have to take account for the weapons we took from those samurai today. You can eat you massive weight in sweets after dinner tonight."

"Yes sir," the big boned teen muttered.

"I'll help with the cooking," Tomoyo offered.

"Good then maybe we'll get some decent grub then!" Yuji said. "The food Toyomi cooks is completely crap!"

"If you hate it so much don't eat it," was Toyomi's only reply as he walked passed them. "Tomoyo-san, this way to this kitchen."

"Right coming. Have fun Sakura," Tomoyo said as she followed Toyomi. Taiso put his arm around Sakura and began walking away.

"Come on Sakura, I'll show you around," he said.

"Uh…sure…" Sakura said hesitantly, expecting Li to yell at her, but he just scoffed.

"Do what you want," was all he said before he jumped into the trees.

"Forget him Sakura," Taiso said. "There are a whole lot of things to see in this part of the forest."

"Yeah sure," Sakura replied, but still keeping her eye on the group of trees Li had jumped into. For some reason she couldn't explain, she wanted him to jump out, yell at Taiso, and pull her into an hour-long training session.

OOOOO

Li stared at the now black and blue sky that was lit with stars on a high branch overlooking the village Taiso had led them to. He thought about today, and couldn't help but be bitter at himself. He had shown too much emotion. Wei had always taught him to hide his emotions, so he could think clearly, but when he saw Taiso talking up Sakura he couldn't help but a explode a little, and what made him so bitter was that, he didn't know why. He had always been able to figure out situations, and possibilities faster than anyone else he knew, so why couldn't he figure this out? He figured it must have been some stupid attachment issue. It's not hard not become slightly attached to someone when you've traveling with them for eight months. But he quickly ruled out that possibility, it took him almost two years to become attached to his "friends" back home.

So what was it? His second thought was that it was his zero tolerance for smooth talkers. Constantly lying, and coming up with ways out of situations with words rather than facing the consequences like men. He scoffed, smooth talkers, were nothing but cowards in their heart of hearts. But still in all the smooth talkers he had run into on his two years of wandering, none had made him explode with so much emotion before, so why did Taiso?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard talking from below him.

"Hey, Taiso, do you think we have enough weapons?" the voice belonged to Yuji. Li looked down and saw Taiso and his three assistants head over to a cabin on the far side of the small village. The young man jumped from the branch, and landed silently on a roof of a cabin not far from them. As he landed he caught more pieces of their conversation.

"Yeah," Huijou said. "I mean there's hardly enough for a complete raid, and we'll lose a lot of men." Li's eyes instantly narrowed. What were they talking about? An invasion? But where? They were in the middle of a forest. Wanting to hear more, he silently leapt from rooftop to rooftop.

"Keh," Taiso scoffed. "If you want to get what you want you need to make a few sacrifices. Besides, our victory was assured the second Sakura and her friends walked into our mists." By then they had entered the cabin they were heading to. Against his better judgment, Li jumped onto the roof of the cabin they entered made a very small hole with his sword so he could listen.

"Why's Sakura such an important factor Taiso?" Yuji wondered. Li heard the young man chuckle.

"You're young so I don't blame you for not picking up. But the power I've been sensing from that girl is incredible. All I have to do is convince her with this stupid noble act of mine, and she'll do anything I say! Convincing her that a bunch of townspeople are bandits and bad guys is easy for me." Taiso let out a loud laugh.

'That bastard! He's been tricking her this whole time!' the amber eyed swordsman let out a small growl as he listened more.

"But what about that Li guy?" Huijou asked. "He doesn't seem the type to let you do this easily."

"Yes, and that Kero creature, and her friend Tomoyo won't let your plan succeed either," Toyomi stated. Taiso let out another laugh.

"That's where you guys come in. You're going to take them on a little 'hike' and a surprise attack from the bandits in town is going to take their lives. With them gone, and Sakura so unstable, it'll be cakewalk to bend her to our will."

"You're a genius Taiso!" Yuji praised.

"Tell me something I don't know Yuji."

"When will this take place?" Toyomi asked.

"Tomorrow. That's when we make our move. Did you hear all of that Li?" Taiso shouted suddenly. With that he and his assistants jumped through the roof above them and surrounded the young swordsman who was already in a ready stance.

"So you've lying through your teeth the whole time," Li muttered as he reached for his sword. "And I don't blame you for catching me, it's been a while since I had to use stealth to get information, so I'm rusty."

"Either way, you've heard way too much," Taiso scoffed. "I wanted to give you another day to live, but this suits things just fine. I might as well kill off Tomoyo and Kero tonight too, it'll make things easier for me."

"You really are scum," Li spat. "Just what are you planning anyway."

"I thought you were listing. Oh well these are your last moments in life so I might as well tell you. Not too far from here is a town, and tomorrow they'll be getting a huge shipment of gold, and money for a war they're fighting, courtesy of the lord of this area. But the problem is, it'll be heavily guarded by well seasoned soldiers…"

"So you've waiting, and getting weapons and men from those who pass through these woods. And now you know how powerful that stupid girl is, you want to try and convince her to help you," Li finished.

"Very good. I hope I fulfilled your last wish," with that the bandit turned his back on Li and began to walk away. "Guys, have fun." Once he was gone, sly grins appeared on Yuji and Huijou's faces.

"Oh we will Taiso, we will,' Huijou laughed as he advanced.

"Let's get this over with," Toyomi said as he drew his sword and walked towards Li, who stepped back. His amber eyes shifted from his three opponents to the retreating Taiso, who was heading straight for Sakura and others' cabin.

"LET'S GET HIM!" Yuji bellowed, and with that the three dashed towards the teen.

'Damn it!'

AN: So chapter 40 is out. You know originally I had this planed to be a one-shot filler chapter, but I guess this works too, seeing as I had a lot of ideas for it. I hope people wanting some SS were at least slightly satisfied with this chapter, but it really isn't anything too major so don't get your hopes up for a kiss or something. It would be WAY too early in my opinion. Also in my opinion, Li seemed a little OOC in this chapter. Maybe it's just me, but it was kind of necessary for this chapter, but once again, maybe it's just me. If this update took forever to you, I'm sorry. It was the usual stuff I'm always complaining about, school, writer's block, losing interest in the chapter for a while, you know the normal stuff. I guess it's a good that I made this into a two-part thing because I'm running out of ideas for a little stuff Li and the others can take. I have all the major plot altering things all planned out, but I'm saving them for chapters 48-50, and I don't want to introduce them too early. So anyway, without further ado, here's the preview for next chapter!

_Li: Now that Taiso had revealed his true intentions I have to warn that stupid girl before she falls right into his trap. But escaping from Taiso's goons is easier than convincing this idiot that her little admirer is a lying, scheming loser. _

_Tomoyo: Maybe if your eyes were a little less intimidating. _

_Li: My eyes have nothing do with this matter! _

_Tomoyo: Will Sakura listen or will she fall for Taiso façade and fall into his trap? Find out next time in: "The Trap of Trust" See ya soon! _


	41. The Trap of Trust

Seven Deadly Jewels Chapter 41 

"LET'S GET HIM!" Yuji bellowed and the three dashed towards the teen.

'Damn it!' At that moment four throwing knives shot towards the swordsman who quickly slashed them away with a quick draw of his sword. Yuji jumped into the air and threw another set that Li quickly jumped back from. The second his feet hit the roof again he bumped into something hard and flabby. Already having an idea of who it was, he flipped to the side avoiding a powerful punch from Huijou that made another hole in the cabins roof. The flying splinters and loose log pieces obstructed Li's vision of an incoming sliver blur. He quickly blocked the incoming attack from Toyomi, and circled around him as their swords were held together. Toyomi let out a grunt and pushed Li back to the edge of the roof. Using the momentum of the push, Li flipped off of the roof and landed with ease on another roof of a cabin not too far away.

"He's getting away!" Yuji exclaimed. "After him!" Li growled and ran across the rooftop following Taiso. He was about to jump to another rooftop when Toyomi blocked his path with a slash that would easily slice off his head. Completely on instinct and reflex, Li bend backwards and the attack just barely skimmed the tip of his nose. The amber-eyed swordsman knocked away the sword inches away from his face, leaving his attacker open for a well-placed kick to his cheek, knocking him off the roof. With a quick look behind him he spotted Yuji and Huijou coming towards him, and with a look ahead of him he saw Taiso not too far away from Sakura and the other's cabin. If Li thought that Taiso was really going do what he thought he was going to do, he didn't have time to waste with these losers.

"Damn it!" he growled and whipped out a talisman.

"You really think a lousy piece of paper will stop us!" Yuji exclaimed as he hurled four knives at that young man.

"Shows what you know. Now, Element Lighting!" On command the lighting shot out of the talisman, Yuji just managed to dodge, but Huijou wasn't as fortunate. The hefty assistant received the full blast of Li's blast and cried out in pain as the lighting ran through his body. Yuji turned his head to see if he could help his friend, but that proved to be a big mistake on his part. The second he turned his head, Li dashed towards the boy, and when Yuji turned around, he was just in time to see Li's two feet collide with his chest and send him flying into Huijou. Which knocked them both off of the roof.

"Humph, idiots," Li scoffed and followed after Taiso.

OOOOO

Taiso smirked as he stood over the sleeping figures of Tomoyo, Kero, and Sakura. It would be so easy to kill them right now. They had no defense or bodyguard with them, and they seemed to have no reflexes when it came to attacks while sleeping, it would be too easy. The bandit leader let out a small chuckle as he drew his swords and twirled them around.

"You make this too easy," he muttered, and was about to deliver the blow that would change everything when a stern voice reached his ears.

"Too easy? Well then allow me to provide you with a challenge," Li muttered with his sword at Taiso's throat.

"So, Toyomi and the others weren't enough for you then?" Taiso chuckled. Li just scoffed.

"I didn't even break a sweat fighting them."

"Impressive, and I give you even more points on your speed. But, do you think you'll be able to beat me?" The amber eyed swordsman let out another confident scoff.

"I know I can beat you. With both arms tied in fact."

"We'll see about that." With that Taiso dropped into a squat and swung out his leg into a sweeping motion that Li easily jumped away from. But just as he was about to land, Taiso pushed off of his back leg, and landed a strong kick square in the young man's chest, sending him flying through the wall. The second his body began to slide across the dirt, Li flipped to his feet and went into a ready stance.

"Is that all you got?" Taiso smirked at this as he jumped through the hole.

"Hardly," he replied while twirling around his swords. The two exchanged glares before dashing towards each other. Taiso attacked with a fast slash with his left sword, and then turned on his heel into a straight thrust with his right. Li blocked the slash, and jumped away from the thrust. Once his feet touched the dirt he pushed off and attacked with series of fast slashes that Taiso managed to block. The bandit blocked a fast downward strike and held it above them, leaving Li open for Taiso's other sword to plow straight through his stomach. Instantly sensing his openness however, Li did a swift back flip that knocked the incoming sword out of the bandit's hands. As he straightened his body out to land, the amber-eyed swordsman stretched out his arm and caught the flying blade before it hit the ground.

"Now what?" he asked the bandit with a smirk as he held up his captured sword. Taiso scoffed.

"Not bad. But, it still isn't good enough!" Li raised an eyebrow at this statement, but it all became clear when a pair of incredibly strong arms wrapped around his body.

"So, the three stooges make their grand reentrance," Li grunted as he struggled out of Huijou's grip.

"So do we kill him now Taiso?" Yuji asked excitedly, already getting out his daggers.

"Hmm, that would benefit us greatly," the bandit leader replied. "But it'd be too suspicious, if we did it the normal way. Just take him into the forest and push him off a cliff or something."

"All right then. Come on little man," Huijou chuckled, still having Li in his unbearable bear hug. "You might as well stop struggling, I'm only using half of my strength to keep you in my grip. I can easily crush you."

"Then…why….don't you….?" The swordsman asked as they were walking deeper into the forest.

"We never disobey Taiso. He's the best!" Yuji exclaimed.

"Hate to break it to you kid, but leaders aren't always the way they seem."

"What do you mean by that?" Huijou asked, increasing his grip.

"What do you think he'll do after he gets all that gold and money?"

"Share it with us of course!" Yuji exclaimed as if it was common knowledge. Li just scoffed.

"Yeah right. Guys like him only care about themselves and what they want. My guess is that he'll kill all you guys just to have the money for himself." This only gained him an even tighter grip from Huijou.

"How dare you! Taiso is a great leader! He would never betray us!" Yuji pulled out four knives from his cloak and held them up.

"Hold him still Huijou, I'm not going to kill, but just some punishment. Is that okay with you Toyomi?" The silent lackey just nodded and looked the other way. The kid smirked and charged towards him target. Li let out a smirk. Once Yuji was in his striking range the amber-eyed swordsman brought up his feet, and collided them against the young boy, knocking him back a few feet. Huijou's grip loosened from his shock of the sudden attack, and Li quickly took the chance. He pushed his feet off of his flabby belly and brought up his feet right into the tubby bandit's face. Once he let go Li flipped into a crouching position and drew his sword.

"Oh you bastard! You've done it now!" Huijou exclaimed.

"Yeah! We were gonna follow Taiso's orders but now we're gonna do it the old three on one way!" Yuji exclaimed. Li just smirked.

"Whatever. But even if you do it this way or one on one the result will be the same. All three of you are going to die," Li declared.

"We'll see about that! Let's go!" Yuji exclaimed. With that the three of them charged towards the one swordsman, but just as they were about to follow through with their attacks they saw Li was gone.

"What the-! Where'd he go!" Huijou shouted.

"Up here genius!" Li exclaimed. The big-boned bandit looked up just in time to see the young man land feet first on his face. Just as the other two were about to attack, Li flipped off of Huijou and as he passed over the other two assistants, he bashed their heads together, bringing them to the ground as well.

"You bastard!" Huijou growled as he got up. Li just smirked and folded his arms.

"Too easy. I don't need my magic at all to beat you guys," he declared smugly. Yuji and Huijou growled, while Toyomi just stood there.

"We're going to wipe that damn smirk right off your face!" Yuji shouted and charged with Huijou behind.

"Come on," Li said already getting his sword ready. Once Yuji was close enough, the amber-eyed swordsman attacked with a fast slash, but he only sliced through air as Yuji leaped into the trees. This left Li open for Huijou to land a powerful punch square in his chest, making him fly into a tree. Before he could recover, five throwing knives flew out of the trees. Li quickly jumped out of the way, but Huijou knocked him to the ground with a clothesline to his chest. Another set of knives came flying out. The young man rolled out of the way, and through Huijou's legs.

"HA!" The fat bandit laughed. "Not so easy now is it!"

'Damn, at this rate they'll get me for sure. Every time I move I fall right into their trap. Which means…' A small smirk crept across his lips and he lowered his sword, and closed his eyes. From behind him, he heard movement in the trees along with a small laugh. It was obvious this kid had no idea what the word stealth implied. With a loud yell from Huijou, Yuji leaped out of his hiding place at hurled five knives at Li's exposed back.

"I have you now!" he shouted. The swordsman's smirk widened as he whirled around and threw his sword at the boy. The kid had no chance to dodge, and in five seconds, his body was pinned to the trunk of the very same tree he jumped out of.

"No. I got you."

"YOU BASTARD!" Huijou bellowed as he bum rushed Li with all his might. The seasoned fighter drew his sheath and ran towards the charging bandit. Huijou threw a powerful punch, but Li sidestepped it and tripped the bandit with his sheath. Once he was on his feet again, Huijou swung out behind him, but his arm connected with nothing. "WHERE ARE YOU! I'M GOING TO RIP TO SHEARDS FOR WHAT YOU DID TO YUJI!"

"Why are you so mad?" Li asked from above him. Just as Huijou looked up, Li came down with his sheath full force on his skull. The blow was so strong that Li actually felt his skull crack from underneath his sheath. The fat bandit fell lifelessly with a thud. "You're going to met him soon anyway." With two dispatched, Li turned his attention to the last remaining bandit. Wordlessly Toyomi drew his sword and went into a ready stance. Li did the same with his sheath.

In an instant, Toyomi rushed forward and attacked with a straight thrust that Li quickly side stepped. The chestnut haired fighter swung his sheath towards the young bandit's face, but Toyomi bent his body backwards and allowed the wooden weapon to pass over him. Once his body was upright, Toyomi rushed forward with two fast slashes that were blocked quickly by Li. He pushed the sword upwards leaving Toyomi open for Li to land a square hit on his stomach with his sheath, knocking him back. Toyomi countered with a fast kick to the amber-eyed fighter's face. The two jumped back for five seconds before dashing towards each other again. The two locked themselves in a deadly dance of parries, slashes and, thrusts as they circled around the forest.

Toyomi thrust forward, but Li sidestepped the attack, and knocked the bandit to the ground with a square hit at his nose. Toyomi said nothing as he got to his feet and attacked again. They continued their little dance until Li saw an opening as Toyomi attacked with a right slash. Acting quickly, the amber-eyed swordsman swung his sheath like a bat, colliding with Toyomi's wrists, making his sword fly through the air. After a quick kick to his chest, Li raised his sheath in the air, and as if it were his own, the sword fell in like silk. Before Toyomi could even blink Li dashed forward and drew the sword. In two seconds, the contents of Toyomi's stomach were open for the world to see. The bandit fell lifelessly to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"Too easy," he smirked and went back to the hideout, forgetting about his sword that was still impaired in Yuji's body. In the trees, Taiso was watching, and a smile crossed his lips.

"Not bad. But his little victory may work in my favor." The bandit leader lightly chuckled and disappeared.

OOOOO

By the time Li returned to the hideout, dawn was close to over as the orange rays of the morning sun began to shift to yellow. Activity had begun for the bandits as they gathered the weapons they had stolen and readied the horses. It was most likely for the raid this afternoon, Li figured. When he reached the hut where Sakura and the others were staying he found Tomoyo stretching as she folded some clothes. When she saw him she looked up and smiled.

"Good morning." Ignoring her greeting, Li instantly looked around for Sakura.

"Where is she?" he asked simply.

"Oh, Sakura? Taiso took her out for a walk." Li tensed, and let out a small growl.

"This early?" Tomoyo nodded.

"He said there was something he wanted to show her. Why?" the dark haired girl asked instantly sensing Li's tension.

"I have to tell her something." Tomoyo's eyes lit up.

"You mean you going to tell her that you love her!" she asked excitedly.

"NO!" Li shouted, his face red with anger and embarrassment. "Anyway, which way did they go?" Tomoyo pointed in the direction he came out of. "Damn it!" With that Li dashed in that direction.

"He's certainly moody today," Kero said with a yawn. "Anyway, where's Huijou? He promised he'd show me where all the chocolate is hidden."

"Oh Kero-chan."

OOOOOO

Sakura was pretty confused right now. It was barely dawn when Taiso suddenly appeared in her room telling to her to get up. When she drowsily asked why, Taiso simply said he wanted to show her something. Not being much of a morning person, it took Sakura a while to dress out of her sleeping clothes, and as she walked she was still pretty much half asleep. But she became fully awake when she noticed two things. One, they were getting further and further away from the hideout, and two Taiso wasn't talking her up, in fact he wasn't talking at all. In the day she got to know him, she was able to conclude that Taiso loved to talk, even if it was just to hear his own voice, so it was weird for him to walk this close to her not say anything. She took a look at his profile and saw that he was serious, and stern like Li, which confused her even more.

"Taiso, what is it? You seem upset," Sakura said trying to get at least some clue of what was going on.

"You'll see," he answered simply. After two more minutes of silent walking they reached a bunch bushes, which only increased Sakura's confusion. "Here it is. Look if you want, but it's not for women's eyes." Not quite sure what he was talking about Sakura pushed the bushes out of her way and looked, what she saw paralyzed her. In front of her, were the dead bodies of Yuji, Huijou, and Toyomi. Still unused to dead bodies, Sakura fell to her knees in shock, with tears rolling down her cheeks. From behind her, Taiso smirked at her reaction.

"W-Wh-Who did this?" she managed to stutter out. In an instant, Taiso expression changed to mournful.

"I don't know. But I think it was your friend Li." Sakura instantly turned around.

"Why would Li do this? Sure he can be a jerk sometimes, but I know he wouldn't kill three innocents like this! It's not like him, I know him!"

"Yeah, but do you really know him? Do you know what goes on in his mind all the time?" Taiso asked. Sakura's sure face faded into one of doubt. Once she truly thought about it, she really didn't know that much about Li. Sure they had traveled together for a while, but to say that she knew him like she knew Tomoyo wasn't true at all.

"But still, what makes you so sure it was Li?" she asked softly. Taiso pointed to Yuji's body that was still pinned to the tree.

"Isn't that his sword?" Sakura turned to the boy's body and walked towards it to get a closer look. When she was close enough her eyes widened. It was Li's sword, and as she examined their bodies, it was Li's style. They had no small slashes, the wounds that were on them were the ones that killed them, which matched his 'quick and to the point' personality. Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing and fell to her knees again.

"Why….why would….why would he do this!" she exclaimed. Taiso put his hand on her shaking shoulders.

"I don't know Sakura. He really is scum after all. You shouldn't trust a word he says after this. He's nothing but a cold hearted killer." The bushes suddenly rustled and Li jumped out of them. "Oh, speak of the devil." The green clad fighter's eyes locked with Taiso's before he looked over to Sakura.

"What did you do to her?" he asked. Taiso just chuckled.

"Me? I didn't do anything except show her your true colors." Li raised an eyebrow, but then he realized where he was. This was the same spot where he killed Yuji and the others.

"Li…how could you…" Sakura said softly. "How could you kill them like that!"

"It was purely self-defense! They attacked me!"

"Don't make me laugh! Why on earth would they attack you unless you did something to them!"

"Hey I didn't do shit!" Li then pointed to the bandit leader. "He ordered them to. He's a fraud Sakura! He's been tricking you this whole time!"

"Oh! And what makes you say that!"

"He's just using you so he can have enough power to fulfill a raid this afternoon!"

"You kill three innocent guys and then you have the nerve to call Taiso a criminal? You really are scum! You didn't even spare the kid! What kind of person are you!" Li growled. The evidence was really piled against him. It was true he had killed them, but she didn't know why. Or rather, she wouldn't believe why.

"You just have to trust me! Taiso's tricking you! Don't fall it!"

"Trust you!" By now Sakura was fully on her legs and marching towards the young man as she talked, or rather, yelled. "I trusted you once, and look what's happened so far! I've been chased by demons, kidnapped, practically killed on a daily basis, and did ever you care no! Because all you care about is yourself! So why should I trust a lying, selfish, bastard like you!"

"You actually going to let some smoothing talking liar cloud your better judgment! You really are a stupid girl!"

"No Li! For the first time in a while I am thinking clearly. I finally know what kind of person you really are, and I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore! Goodbye!" she exclaimed and ran off.

"Fine! If you want to drag your life into the toilet with this loser be my guest! Just don't drag me down with you!"

"My, my, is your little lover's quarrel over?" Taiso chuckled. Li gave him the coldest glare he had ever given anyone in a while. And without another word he walked off. "Aren't you going to try and stop me from using your little cherry blossom?" Li just scoffed.

"Do what you want with her," he answered simply as he grabbed his sword from Yuji's body. "Rape her, kill her, do whatever, I don't care." And with that he walked away. Taiso let out a loud laugh as he watched to warrior leave.

"That was so easy, and fun too! Now to convince her to help me." The bandit leader continued to laugh to himself as he walked through the forest.

OOOOO

Tomoyo was humming a small tune to herself as she and Kero continued to hang some clothes when Sakura came bursting through the woods with her face twisted in anger and tears.

"Sakura-chan, what happened?" she asked as soon as she saw her. "Where's Li?"

"Forget him," the emerald-eyed girl said simply. "He's gone."

"Huh? What do you mean he's gone?" Kero asked. "And where the hell is Huijou! I want some chocolate damn it!"

"He's dead."

"Eh?" Tomoyo and Kero said at the same time.

"Huijou, Toyomi, and Yuji are all dead. And to make matters worse, Li killed them!"

"Say what!" Kero exclaimed.

"Why would he do that? They didn't seem to pose a threat."

"I don't know, but don't bother asking, he's gone now."

"You mean that bastard killed them, and just left us here!" Kero exclaimed. Sakura nodded. "ARG! That bastard! And worse of all, Huijou never told me where the chocolate was!"

"Did you ask Li why Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.

"I did. He said that Taiso ordered them kill him, which is just ridiculous."

"Of course it is!" Taiso declared from behind them. He put his arm around Sakura's shoulders as he talked. "I bet he was just so jealous that he took it out on my men. He's really unstable isn't he?" Sakura just let out a positive grunt, she didn't even seem to mind the closeness of the band it. In fact to Tomoyo it seemed she was getting closer. Tomoyo straight into Taiso's eyes and asked him,

"Taiso, why would Li kill three innocent people just because of jealously?" she asked simply.

"It's obvious isn't it? He's unstable. He's a murderer through and through. Sakura thought she knew him, but you can't let types like that fool you, you'll end up dead in an instant!" Taiso laughed. All throughout the time he was talking, Tomoyo's gaze didn't shift. He seemed completely confident, but the dark haired girl noticed a quick shift of his eyes, and the oncoming of a bead of sweat forming on his brow. She even noticed a slight twitch of the fingers that were holding Sakura.

'He's lying,' she concluded.

"Hey Sakura I have a favor to ask you," Taiso said as he looked at the still girl. "There's a group of men that are going to pass through this forest at midday, really bad men. These are men who'll rape and kill any women who cross them and kill whoever tries to stop them. As this forest's protector I can't let a band like them come though here. So what do you say you help me stop them?"

"Sure," Sakura answered without hesitation, which made Tomoyo's expression become stern.

"Taiso, can Kero and I come as well?" she asked with a smile. Taiso shot her an unsure look before answering,

"Nah, you two better stay here. But don't worry, I'll leave some men to protect you. Come on Sakura, let's get you some armor." And with that they left, leaving a very skeptical Tomoyo, and a still ranting Kero.

'Armor? Why would they need armor to stop just a few rough men?' the dark haired girl asked herself. "Come on Kero-chan," she said suddenly, breaking off the beast's ranting.

"Huh? Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're going to split up and look around this place. Something just doesn't fell right about this whole thing. Come on, you search the left side, I'll search the right."

"What am I looking for?"

"Anything that will give us some more insight on this attack Taiso is planning." Kero just struggled and flew off.

All throughout the morning Tomoyo ran through the camp, searching in every cabin, and asking any person passing her way about the attack. So far from what she gathered from the contents of the cabins and the answers she had gotten this wasn't an ordinary attack like the one he saved them from. It seemed the entire camp was going, armed as if they were going to battle. The horses were pulling carts that held large barrels with nothing in them, and the other bandits kept saying things like:

"It's going to be the biggest thing ever!" or,

"Taiso says things will change after this." And even,

"I'm saying my prayers now because Taiso says some of us won't come back."

It was official to Tomoyo now, Taiso wasn't at all what he seemed to be. Whatever was going to happen this afternoon wasn't at all what he said. She was getting the feeling that maybe Li was right about Taiso. When the sun was in the middle of blue cloudless sky, all the bandits were gathered in what seemed to be a military position and marched out of the camp, with Taiso and Sakura leading up front on horses.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan wait!" she cried, but her voice was drawn out by the thunder of the footsteps and the horses.

"She can't hear us!" Kero growled.

"She's walking straight into a trap! I have to stop her!"

"Be my guest, but what's stopping Taiso from convincing Sakura that you're wrong? I mean he somehow convinced her that Li was lying to her," Kero stated.

"I'm her best friend, she has to believe me!"

"True, but that can't be your only backup. In order to make her believe she has to see for herself."

"How?"

"We have to trick Taiso into spilling. It can't be one of us, because we know for sure that he would lie. We need someone who already knows, but he wouldn't mind telling it all to." Tomoyo's eyes suddenly lit up as an idea popped into her head.

"Kero-chan, transform. We need to find Li."

AN: You know the funny thing is I wanted end this little arc with this chapter, but I guess it'll end in the next chapter. Hopefully. Is it me, or do I have a habit of making chapters that are supposed to be one-shots into full-blown arcs? I mean the whole Risuba thing was supposed to be only two chapters, but somehow I managed to make it into a five-chapter arc, and the whole ghost chapter was supposed to be one chapter, but I made it into two. Oh well, whatever fills the space between these chapters and chapters 48-50. Trust me, something really big will happen, but I can't introduce it now. I'll give you a little hint, in chapter 50, you'll meet some new characters. So anyway, without further ado, he's the preview for the next chapter! (Which I hope will end this arc finally)

_Tomoyo: In the next chapter the raid begins and Sakura is leading it! _

_Kero: Oh man, I hope she doesn't get a criminal record from this! _

_Tomoyo: And while that is happening, Kero-chan and I finally find Li, but can we convince him to help Sakura? _

_Kero: And will Sakura figure out that Taiso is tricking her? _

_Tomoyo: Find out next time in: "A Battle for Trust!" See ya next time! _


	42. The Battle for Trust

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 42

The bright yellow sun was in the center of a clear blue sky. Its hot rays beamed down the forest below, but the normally loud and active birds were silent this midday. One bird hopped on a branch to try and fill the air with its chirps, but it quickly flew away in pure fear when a loud sound very similar to thunder echoed through the forest. Rather than thunder, it was a large army of armored men with a large covered wagon in the center of their formation. They had stone hard faces, many with scars on bruises on them, showing they were professionals. Unknown to them was a figure was watching them from high in the trees. The figure after observing them from different angles quickly moved away from them, and leaped towards a clearing not to far away that held Taiso and his bandits along with Sakura.

"There are about 250 of them," the spy reported to Taiso. "If I may be able to speak freely sir, I don't think our small band will be able to stop them." Taiso just laughed, and put his arm around Sakura.

"Don't worry, with her here it'll go so smoothly!" he declared.

"So what's the plan?" one of the bandits asked.

"Well first we'll send two volleys of arrows, then Sakura will take a couple down with her to make them think it's just a couple of us, but when they least expect it, the rest of us will swoop in. Got it?" a wave of positive yells erupted. "All right! Then get ready!"

"Taiso, are arrows really necessary?" Sakura asked the leader while the others were getting ready. "I mean if you just want to get them out of the forest, wouldn't a direct attack be more effective?"

"That's just what they're expecting Sakura," Taiso replied without hesitation.

"Oh, I see."

"Now I'm depending on you Sakura. You have to get rid of those guys okay. I know you can do it," Taiso flashed Sakura a smile that made her smile back.

"Right," she nodded. "I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask. Now go get ready." Once Sakura was gone, Taiso's smile easily dropped and the spy from before appeared at his side.

"When will we take the gold master?" he asked.

"The instant all the guards are out, we knock her out, take the gold. She gets all the blame, and we get off Scot free."

"You're a genius sir." Taiso merely chuckled in response. At that moment, another spy jumped out of the trees and landed at Taiso's feet with a bow.

"Sir, the target is currently at rest. Now is perfect opportunity." The bandit leader nodded, and called his horde together.

"Alright guys, our target is in place. Now is the time for us to show our strength. This will be an event worth remembering! Now let's go!" a storm of battle cries echoed through the area as the response, which Sakura found odd. If they were just going to drive out the soldiers why did it seem like they were heading into battle. And what did Taiso mean when he said "it will be an event worth remembering?" weren't they just going to stop a couple soldiers? What was going to be so memorable about that? Sakura had almost no time to fully explore this because she was pushed along to her position by the other bandits.

The soldiers rested in a passageway that was in-between two high cliffs that were covered with trees and other vegetation. Naturally the soldiers posted archers around them while the rest of them rested, but amongst the trees, the bandits got into their positions around the unsuspecting soldiers. The bandits wore camouflage on their clothes and faces, and some others cast some spells to make them appear to be trees. Sakura moved close with Taiso who kept close with the archers. The bandit leader signaled the arches to prepare themselves, and then he turned to Sakura.

"When I give the signal, I need you to take out the guards stationed around them, then follow the plan from before, you got it?" Sakura nodded, and formed her weapon. Then she took a deep breath to calm her heart that wouldn't stop pounding against her chest. Taiso raised his arm, and the archers took aim. Sakura gripped her staff, and took a series of breaths to calm herself.

'Everything's going to be okay,' she said to herself.

"Ready…. set…" There was brief, eerie, nerve racking pause, before the one word sent everything in motion. At that word, Sakura felt her heart would explode.

"Attack!"

OOOOO

Li walked with his fists clenched and his eyes still angry. He couldn't believe how stupid Sakura was being. How could she believe such a moron so easily? He always knew she was stupid, but he never expected her to be this stupid. Li shook off such thoughts and tried to regain his calm. He was finally rid of those annoyances he had traveling companions for past couple of months, and finally regained the peace he had wanted ever since they started to tag along with him. He could finally get back on track his own mission, finding all seven jewels. But still despite that there was still something that just didn't feel right to him. He could hear the chirping of the birds and the whistle of the wind in his ears, but there was still something not right about it. He scoffed at his own emotion. It was just the sudden change that was probably getting to him. Besides he didn't feel like rattling his brain about his emotions. Without a second thought he kept walking, forcing his thoughts away from Sakura and the others.

It was at that moment he heard loud cries erupt from the forest. He turned around and raised an eyebrow, but then figured it was just the attack happening. He rolled his eyes and continued walking down his path of solitude.

OOOOO

"Do you seem him Kero-chan?" Tomoyo asked as she searched the forest floor on the right side of Keroberos.

"No, nothing," the beast replied. "And besides how can we expect to see him from so high up?"

"Well then fly lower. We have to find Li, he maybe the only one who can save Sakura." The beast nodded and descended. It was at that moment a loud echo reached their ears. The duo whirled their heads around and heard loud cries echo through the once peaceful forest.

"Aw man it started already!" Kero growled.

"Come on Kero-chan! We have to hurry!" The beast nodded and flew faster towards the forest floor.

OOOOO

The very second Taiso's words left his mouth, the sentries were hurled into the covered wagon by a strong wind, courtesy of Sakura. Those who weren't hurled into their own cargo, had arrows rain down upon them by the archers. When the bandit arches began to reload, the soldiers made their counter attack with a volley of arrows. But because of the thickness of the trees they were in, the arrows did nothing but some non-threatening injuries.

"Second volley!" Taiso ordered. "Fire!" Another rain arrows fell upon the reloading arches, some were killed, others pinned to the carriage.

"Damn it!" the captain growled. "Light arrows! Burn down their cover!" Within seconds the fire arrows were lit and the archers let them fly. Thinking quickly, Sakura whipped out the Watery card.

"Watery put out the incoming fires!" With its command in place, the water sprit burst out of its confine space and easily put out the fires.

"What the-!" the captain shouted.

"Nice one," Taiso complimented. "Now men, let's go!" With a loud cry the bandits erupted from their hiding places and sprinted down towards the confused soldiers.

"Bandits!" The bandits coming from both sides of them, enclosing them in the tight space, soon consumed the soldiers. As Sakura watched she thought now would be the perfect time for them to drive them out, but something happened she never expected to happen. She heard the soldiers cry out as the bandits impaired them with heir weapons and slashed their chest open. Sakura watched in horror as some of the soldiers collapsed in a pool of their own blood, with their eyes still reflecting their fear.

'What's going on?' she thought. 'I thought the plan was to just drive them out of the forest. Why are they killing them!' She looked around and saw Taiso about to make his move when she called out to him.

"Taiso! What in the world is happening! I thought you just wanted to get them out of the forest!" The bandit leader just gave her a dark smile.

"Things change Sakura," he said simply. It was at that moment two bandits grabbed her arms and raised the struggling girl off the ground. Taiso laughed as he watched her legs flare about as if it was going to help her free herself.

"What the heck is going on!" she exclaimed. Taiso just scoffed.

"You're really dense aren't you? Can't you see what's going on?" It was at that moment, Sakura realized the harsh truth in front of her eyes, and her head dropped in shame.

"You really have been tricking me all this time haven't you," she whispered.

"That's right," the bandit leader chuckled as he lifted her head to face him. "But don't worry Sakura, I'm going to kill you. Join us Sakura. You could be a real asset to us, and you can have any desire you want. What do you say?" Sakura's reply was she spat in the middle of his face. As a result Taiso slapped her cheek sending her to the ground.

"Do what you want with me, but I'll never join a bastard like you!" she exclaimed. Taiso wiped the spit from his face and just laughed.

"Say what you will Sakura, but think about the odds your against. Your friends are gone, you have hundreds of blood lustful bandits, and you have me the leader. What in the world can you do by yourself?" Sakura made a fist, but said nothing. She knew he was right, what could she do alone. It was then she remembered the fight she had with Li, when she pushed him away, and refused to trust him. Now when she needed him more than ever, he was nowhere to be seen. Why? Why did this thought make her heart sink so deep? Why did she feel like she was about to cry? She and Li never hit it off well anyway, and they were never close or really friendly to one another. So why did she feel the need for him to come out of nowhere and rescue to her right now? Why did she feel the need to just see him? It was probably just to apologize, but she couldn't help but feel it was deeper than that.

"What do we do with her?" asked the one bandit holding her. Taiso shrugged.

"Tie her to this tree. Once the gold is fully loaded and the soldiers call for reinforcements, she'll take all the blame." The two bandits nodded, and what they were told with no resistance from Sakura.

"Tomoyo, Kero, Li, I'm sorry," she whispered.

OOOOO

Tomoyo suddenly sat upright as a cold feeling passed through her body.

"What is it?" Kero asked.

"I don't know but I think I just felt Sakura." The beast just raised an eyebrow. "Look I know it sounds crazy but I just know it was her. She's in real trouble and we have to help." Kero nodded and looked down, at that moment he let out a victory laugh.

"Hey! This'll cheer you up, look!" Tomoyo looked down and a saw a lone figure walking along the forest path with no real destination in sight. Tomoyo's eyes brightened when she saw that their outfit matched the green of the forest.

"Li!" she called.

'And just when I was getting used to the quiet,' he thought bitterly.

"What is it?" he asked without turning around.

"Sakura's in trouble. You have to help." The young man just scoffed and continued walking.

"Give me one good reason I should help that dumbass. She made the mistake believing that Taiso loser, so now she just has to live with it."

"I know she should have believed in you. I know she should have trusted you more, but that's no reason to turn your back on her! How can you be so cold!"

"Easy with practice." Tomoyo groaned at his dry sarcasm.

"That's not the point! The point is…."

"What, I should go rescue her every time she makes a dumb mistake? What the hell do I look like?" With that he continued his walk. Tomoyo clenched Kero's fur tightly as she thought about the aspect of Sakura being in trouble and her not being able to help tore her apart. She had to help her, and getting Li there was apart of that.

"Do have any idea how it feels not being able to help the person you care about the most when you know they're in trouble?" Tomoyo whispered. Li stopped at this and made a fist. A flood of unwanted memories entered his mind, and after a few minutes of stillness and quiet, Li muttered an almost silent,

"Which way?" Everything was so quiet that Tomoyo managed to pick up that short question and her eyes lit up.

"Hop on! We don't have any time to lose!"

OOOOO

It was dusk by the time the battle between the bandits and soldiers ended with the bandits' victory. The soldiers that lived were rounded up to be disposed of later. The bandits broke into the covered wagon and literally pillaged the entire cargo. They took everything from the gold to sake, and even some of the letters the soldiers were writing. What purpose they served for a band of bandits, Sakura had no idea, but what she did know was, the bandits were enjoying their hull. The very minute the sake and other alcoholic beverages were discovered, almost half was gone in twenty minutes. Sakura let out a small sigh. For the most part they had forgotten about her, which gave her a chance to figure out how get herself out of this mess. But at the same she kept asking herself, what could she do alone?

The least she could do, she figured, was to try to escape from here, find Li, apologize, then come back and take out Taiso and his men. But first she had to get out of here first, which proved to be a challenge in itself. She couldn't reach her pocket for any of her cards, or see a stick around where she was either. To make matters worse, using her wind powers would have affect on the ropes tied around. The young girl let out a sigh and laid her head against the tree. It seemed hopeless.

"You might as well give up Sakura," Taiso chuckled from the rock he was sitting on across from her. "I made sure those ropes are tight. You might as just relax and wait until their reinforcements arrive. Then you'll get new scenery. Prison!" Sakura groaned slightly. The situation was only getting worse and worse every minute. She sighed and decided to abandon her attempts at coming up with an escape plan, for now anyway. She just needed a nap to clear mind. However, unknown to her, just as she closed her eyes a figure began move through the trees.

Sakura lost track of how long she was asleep but she was awoken by the sound of Taiso's order.

"All right boys we have what we came for time to move out! Kill any living soldier and the girl here!" A loud positive roar was the response. The bandits loaded up the last of their stolen gold and other goods, and positioned themselves in a position to move out when a voice echoed from the trees, a voice Sakura knew all too well.

"You losers aren't going anywhere!" At that moment a blast of fire shot out from nowhere, destroying the wagon containing the gold. But also on the wagon was the alcohol they stole so, needless to say the bandits were thrown in random directions by the explosion.

"What the hell…!" remarked on bandit, but he and the others around him had no time to look further in this matter because a blast of lighting collided with them, knocking them out instantly.

By now the entire horde was in chaos. All around them lighting or fire would shoot out from the trees, taking them out one by one. They couldn't tell where they were coming from since they came from opposite directions every time.

"All right!" Taiso shouted when the last of his men were down for the count. "Whoever the hell you are show yourself right now!" The voice in the trees scoffed.

"Jeez, it hasn't even been on full day and you've forgotten about me already." At that moment, Li jumped out from the trees with his hands already on his sword. "Hey," he greeted the bandit. Taiso just smirked and drew his swords.

"HA! I thought you would have been long gone by now. What made you come back?"

"The aspect of an asshole like you actually succeeding pissed me off to no ends so I decided to give hard slap of reality," Li replied with a smug smirk. Taiso just chuckled.

"Then by all means make your move," the bandit leader said as he dropped in his stance. Li scoffed.

"I could probably take you out with just my index finger."

"Then what's stopping you?" Li chuckled at this and turned around.

"Because this isn't about me." At that moment, a loud cry erupted from behind the bandit leader. Taiso whirled around and brought up his swords just in time to block an overhead strike from Sakura's staff.

"What the hell!" he exclaimed. When he looked over Sakura's shoulder he saw Tomoyo waving to him innocently from the tree Sakura used to be tied to. Taiso pushed up knocking Sakura back, and gave her a swift kick to her stomach, making her fall to the ground. The bandit whirled around to the swordsman and exclaimed,

"You bastard! You planned this didn't you!"

"No, I did it all on a whim," was Li's sarcastic reply. He looked over the bandit's shoulder and stated, "Keep your eyes on your opponent." The bandit looked behind him and saw the weapon being swung towards his neck. With pure luck and speed, Taiso managed to duck under the attack and counter with a swing to the girl's stomach. Sakura quickly jumped away from it and shot Taiso a glare as she readied herself.

"So you really want to do this huh Sakura."

"I should have done this a long time ago," she said coldly.

"Very well," Taiso began to twirl around his swords as he dropped into a stance. "I actually did kind of like you though. It's too bad too, you would had anything you wanted with me. Gold, jewels, anything."

"Shut up!" Sakura yelled and shot a powerful wind gust from her staff, signaling the start of the fight. Taiso quickly jumped in the air to avoid the attack and landed in on a tree branch with a flip. Sakura let out another windblast that the bandit leader avoided by jumping out of the tree. When anther blast came towards him, Taiso placed his swords over his chest in a cross position and swung when the blast was close enough, releasing a blast of green energy. The green blast, sliced through Sakura's wind and headed straight for the user. The emerald eyed girl quickly flipped back and watched as the blast sliced the ground open.

'So he had some skill after all,' Li thought as he watched.

"What was that?" Sakura wondered.

"A special technique of mine. With this I can make my aura into fire and release it from my swords. I can burn just about anything with it. Still want to fight me Sakura-chan?"

"Of course!" the young girl yelled, and released another blast of wind that Taiso sliced through with his fire.

"Very well then!" The bandit dashed towards Sakura and attacked with a fast downward attack. Sakura raised her staff and intercepted the attack, but was unprepared for the vibration that erupted from the strong blow. It knocked against her hands and she felt as if she was going to let go, but pushed herself to keep her grip. Sakura pushed up on the two swords and attacked with a fast slash. Taiso blocked with his right sword, and came in with a swing from his left sword and kick. Sakura quickly jumped back avoiding the two attacks, but once his foot was back on the ground, he rotated on the balls of his front foot and was on the attack again.

Sakura moved faster than she thought she ever could as she blocked Taiso fast slashes. Just as she blocked a swing from his right, he came in with a slash from his left towards her neck. The young girl pushed the first away to duck under the incoming attack and as a counter jabbed the bandit in his stomach with her staff butt. Taiso quickly recovered kicked the amber haired girl in the cheek. As she stumbled back the leader swing his swords, which released a hot blast of fire that knocked Sakura flat on the ground.

"It ends here Sakura," he said as he positioned his left sword into a stabbing position. Thinking quickly, Sakura swung her staff across the ground so the blade end hooked around Taiso's ankle, and pulled, taking the bandit to the ground. The two combatants quickly got back to their feet and charged towards each other. Sakura fired two blasts of wind from her palms, but Taiso sliced through them with his fire and slashed Sakura across her stomach. The young girl jumped back and saw she had just narrowly avoided a deep cut. But just as she looked up, she saw one of Taiso's sword heading straight for her forehead. Sakura swiftly moved to the right, avoiding that sword, but she came right in the path of the second that heading for her hips. Just as it was inches away from slicing her in two, Sakura swung up on her staff, making the end collide with Taiso's chin, making him stagger back. Seeing her chance, Sakura slashed at his chest, leaving a long but shallow cut.

Taiso countered with kick to Sakura's ribs and a fast thrust through her shoulder. The young girl cried out in pain as she felt both the sword going through, and the fire burning her skin.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed. As Taiso came in for another attack, Sakura extended the arm formally holding her wound and blasted him through two trees with her wind. As the girl approached the rubble to survey the damage she did, a blast of fire that ran along the ground shot towards her. Sakura quickly jumped to the side, only to be caught in the path of another one. With no other way, she held her staff in front of her and took the blast. Just as she recovered from it, Taiso leapt out from the rubble and placed his fire swords in an X position across his chest. The fire around his swords began to consume him until he was just a falling fireball.

"Now for one of strongest techniques!" he yelled from his fireball. "Phoenix Sword Fire Strike!"

At that moment the fire shot out towards the young girl and took the form of a bird that flying straight towards her. The emerald-eyed girl quickly ducked under it, but to her surprise, the firebird made a sudden turn and collided with her back. Sakura cried out in pain as her skin burned and she fell face first into the ground. Taiso just laughed.

"Sakura-chan! Li do something!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Li just folded his arms.

"This is her fight," he said simply. "Besides its not everyday I get so see someone else fight, I might was enjoy it."

"Li's right Tomoyo," Sakura said and she slowly got to her feet. "This…is my fight. I'll take care of him myself." The bandit leader let out another loud laugh.

"If you insist on more punishment, fine!" With that Taiso ran his swords along the ground, releasing two fire blasts that Sakura managed to avoid. But the second she turned to face the bandit, she saw his two swords coming down towards her. The young girl quickly blocked the incoming attacks, and their weapons were once again locked together. Sakura winced as Taiso's fire suddenly flared up and she could feel him begin to overpower her. The girl suddenly let of her hands drop from the staff, allowing Taiso to push it inches away from her face. As he moved in to get better leverage, Sakura suddenly shot out her free palm, releasing that powerful wind that sent the bandit flying through five trees.

"Hey guys!" Kero called from above. "I hate to interrupt your fun but I can see the soldiers' reinforcements from here! Better speed it up!"

"So it seems I don't have time to fool around!" Taiso said, and jumped into the air.

"Watch out Sakura! He's going to use that attack again!" Tomoyo warned. This was confirmed when Taiso entire body became fire again. But Sakura didn't move as she saw the firebird coming towards her. Instead she began to spin her staff in front of her. With every second it became faster and faster until the entire area of the forest was being blown around by an extremely powerful wind. The wind had no trouble blowing back the incoming firebird and knocking it back towards its sender, knocking him out of the air. As he fell, dashed towards where he would fall and a blast of wind below her to make her jump as high as he did. The last thing Taiso saw before he flew through the air was Sakura foot coming towards his face.

Sakura landed on a tree branch and watched Taiso crash into a river.

"Damn that girl," he muttered as he began to head towards the bank. "I'll kill her for sure."

"It's ironic that this ends where I met you," Sakura from behind him.

"You think by sending here is going to finish me! HA! Don't make me laugh Sakura!" Taiso dashed towards the girl to prove his point, but Sakura just reached into her pocket, and drew out a familiar card.

"Watery attack!" The water sprit burst from its card and with the water in the river as its source formed itself into a giant whirlpool of water. Within seconds Taiso was completely consumed by the water. When the water subsided it revealed Taiso sitting weakly against a tree with his swords nowhere in sight.

"Damn…her…" he muttered.

"Woody bind!" At that second the roots of the tree shot up wrapped themselves around the weakened bandit making him unable to move.

"What is this!" he yelled.

"There," Sakura said from above him. "Now the incoming soldiers won't have to question who the ringleader of this whole thing was."

"You bitch! I'll kill you! Come back here, I'm not finished with you yet!"

"Goodbye Taiso." With that Sakura turned on her heels and left the scene. It was strange, just a day ago he was saying things to flatter her to ends, and now he was cursing her to her grave.

OOOOO

"Nice job Sakura!" Tomoyo said when she reappeared. Li just shot her an indifferent look. Sakura sighed and carefully approached the swordsman.

"Hey…. Li…." she began unsurely. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled at you, I'm sorry I didn't trust you, and I'm sorry for this whole mess. I know I caused you a lot of trouble." When Li raised his arm, Sakura cringed, expecting a slap, or him using it to ridicule her. But what she didn't expect was what actually happened.

He placed it on her head, and whispered,

"It's okay, you're in good company." Sakura looked up to see what his face looked like, but it had already turned back into that stone look she was too familiar with. "Now let's go!"

"Right," the two girls said and began to follow. But Sakura was still more or less in a state of shock. Was that just Li who accepted her apology? She expected him to yell at her, call her stupid, and tell her that her training time had extended another hour. She expected anything but that!

"Oh and Sakura," Li called from the front. "To make up for this little mess of yours, you now have 4 hour training sessions for the rest of the month!" It took a few a minutes for the punishment to sink in, but when a did,

"HOEEEEEE!"

OOOOO

"Damn that Sakura!" Taiso muttered as he struggled to escape from the roots, but it was no use, they were locked to him. "Once I get out of here, I'll her back for sure for messing up my plans! Her and that Li bastard!"

"I suggest actually escaping from that root prison of yours before you consider any thoughts of revenge," a sly voice said from above.

"Who's there!" the bandit shouted. At that moment, a man about in his early 20's dropped down from the trees. He had short jet-black hair, a long red and orange cloak that covered his chest with the symbol for fire on the back and different fire patterns that ran along the bottom. And his cold blue eyes looked at Taiso with pure interest.

"Hey there," he said. "The name's Mudo. And I got plans for you kid. Not exactly the type I go for, but you'll for now."

"What kind of plans? And why do you want me?"

"Let's just say I'm attracted to fire."

AN: I'm really really really sorry this took so long! I hope the fight makes up for the delay. Since the school year is winding down I have a lot of tests and schoolwork to do. That and I couldn't really get into this chapter until Sakura began fighting. Mostly because I didn't plan on this becoming so long, so I wasn't sure how to do things. In the end I went against the original plan of Sakura finding out by overhearing Taiso saying it from his own mouth, and went with her just seeing it with her own eyes. Mostly just because it easier to write for me. Now it's been a while since I wrote a Sakura fight, so sorry if it wasn't all that great. Oh and also, I didn't really plan on letting Taiso live, or for Mudo to have an interest in him. The idea just came to me while I typing the fight and coming up with what kind of fire skills he could have. And one more thing, thanks for the hits! I'm at 8000 something hits with pratically 100 something for each chapter. Some at 200 and even others at 300! You guys must really like this story! Thanks is all I can think to say. Just for that I'll try get the next chapter out sooner! Anyway, here's the preview for next chapter!

_Kero: Finally! We make it out of that damn forest! Away from the weird beasts, vengeful sisters, and smooth talking bandits!_

_Tomoyo: But we're going to wish we were back in the forest as we get caught in the middle of a feud between two noble Samurai families that is consuming the town. _

_Li: Oh great, family trouble is the last thing we need. _

_Tomoyo: Can we stop this feud before it gets any more out of control? Find out in "The Noble Feud of Life or Death!" See ya soon! _


	43. The Noble Feud of Life or Death

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 43

It was another clear bright day in the forest. The sky was a clear blue, and the bright yellow orb in the sky shone down bright on the patch of green below it. But for one disgruntled beast, the amount of green around him was getting on his last nerve.

"Trees, trees, trees, trees!" Kero exclaimed. "When the hell are we going to get out of this god forsaken forest! God! How long have we been here, a week, a month maybe! I want buildings, shops, people who aren't trying to kill you for misguided revenge attempts, or because you screwed up their plans!"

"Would you just shut up!" Li shouted, and pounded the little beast into the ground with his fist. "All you do is complain, complain! Suck it up you stuffed animal!"

"What do you mean all I do is complain! I contribute a lot!"

"HA! Name one time!"

"Easy! When I fought Ami!" This caused another mocking laugh to erupted from Li as he walked.

"You mean the time you got captured and I had to haul my ass to save you and the other stupid girls!" Kero paused for a second before yelling back a reply.

"I..I had her exactly where I wanted her!"

"Don't make me laugh! You were completely unconscious!" Tomoyo and Sakura just sighed as they watched the bickering two. It was just another thing to get used to, like Li's coldness, demons and humans trying to kill them on a daily basis, weird happenings, and the constant walking and running.

But Sakura couldn't help but look at Li as he bickered with the little yellow beast about his usefulness. In front of her was the face and expression she had become used to over the past couple of months. Bitter, cold, unapproachable, underlying signs of anger, and a threatening presence. But as she thought about what he said to her the other day,

"_It's okay, you're in good company." _

He had said it so gently, and he sounded like he really meant it. In other words, he was the complete opposite of the person in front of her at that moment. He sounded so gentle, and forgiving, like the traditional "knight-in-shining armor" almost. But where did it come from? She had become convinced that it was impossible for the Li she had grown accustomed to was incapable of sounding that way without making himself hurl or scoff in complete annoyance.

It was at that moment, Sakura imagined Li if he was always that way to her. He would always be there for her, hold her tight, and say "I love you" more times that she could count. He would read her poetry, help her around the house that they would share together, and when they kissed it would be incredible.

"Hey, why are you so red Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked simply, completely snapping her out of her daydream.

"Hoeee!" she exclaimed from the sudden question. "Nothing, nothing at all!" The girl said quickly as she shook her head to rid her face of her redness.

"Are you sure?" Tomoyo asked teasingly.

"Yes, yes I'm sure." There were a few minutes of silence between the two girls before Tomoyo asked out of the blue,

"Dreaming about Li I presume?" Sakura fell over, half in shock, and half because of the root she tripped over.

"H-H-H-How did you know!" the clumsily girl whispered with her face still red. Tomoyo shrugged with a laugh.

"I really didn't. I just thought I would ask and see how you would react. And from your little trip and your question just now, I was right."

"Sometimes I think you can read my mind Tomoyo." The dark haired girl just laughed.

"I just know you so well is all. So what is it?"

"It's just sometimes it seems like he's two different people. On one side is the cold, unapproachable Li we know, but on the other is someone the complete opposite. It's like he has a split personality."

"Well everyone has a side they don't like to show to other people I guess." Sakura shook her head.

"I doubt it's anything this drastic." Tomoyo just shrugged.

"Either way I wouldn't dwell on it. It's not like your going to figure him out anytime soon."

"Yeah you're right."

"Hey slowpokes! Come here! Look what we found!" Kero called happily. Sakura and Tomoyo raised their eyebrows. It either must have been something drastic to get Kero to stop complaining.

When the two girls caught up, they saw their two other companions standing on a hill that overlooked a forest. When they asked what it was, Kero pointed happily to a village not too far off. This instantly got the girls excited.

"A town! That means…!" Kero began.

"A bath!" Tomoyo squealed happily.

"Warm meals," Sakura thought dreamily.

"Soft beds!" Kero exclaimed excitedly.

"Useless spending," Li muttered.

"What the heck are we waiting for let's go!" Kero yelled, the two girls nodded vigorously and the three practically sprinted down the hill. Li followed far behind muttering something about stupid companions.

OOOOO

The town itself was very moderate in terms of size, and people. There were shops selling various items and people walking about in their casual kimonos just living daily lives. A loud growl from Kero signaled for the small group to find a restaurant and fast before the beast started to see them as food choices.

They decided to stop at a small family restaurant around a corner. With the old man in charge busy with some of his other customers, they decided to seat themselves near a window on the side.

"Hey old man!" Kero called. "Give us some menus!"

"That's not how you ask Kero-chan!" Sakura hissed like a mother reprimanding a child. When the little old man turned around his eyes widened in what looked like fear and carefully walked over. Li quickly took note of his hesitant steps, but said nothing.

"O-Of course, but might I suggest you young folks sitting somewhere else?"

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Tomoyo asked.

"Oh no, it's just that those seats are reserved." This caused the group to look the old man with odd looks. Sakura and Tomoyo's experience as waitresses taught them when you reserve a table for a guest you usually put a sign on the table so that unknowing guest won't sit there. But the table where they sat was bare. Was the old man covering for someone, was what was running through the girls' heads. Li noticed the aura of fear radiating from the little man, and the slight shaking in his knees. No matter from what perspective you looked at it from, something was not right.

The source of the old man's fears was revealed when the flaps of restaurant flew up to reveal a group consisting of about seven or eight samurais. They wore red robes over their blue gis and strolled in with complete confidence and arrogance. The leader's eyes fell on the little group and his brown eyes instantly reflected his anger, and annoyance.

"Hey old man! What's the meaning of this!" he yelled. The old man instant fell to his knees as if hit by a blow and began to cower.

"I-I-I-I-I-I am ex-ex-ex-extremely-…" But before he could finish, the leader kicked him into a table.

"Save it you geezer!" Sakura, and Tomoyo got to their feet, while Li remained seating, observing the situation. By now the customers in the restaurant had gathered in a corner holding each other in fear.

"Hey that's no way treat an old man!" Sakura yelled while Tomoyo went to see if the poor man was all right. One of the grunts grabbed Sakura by the collar.

"You must be new around here baby. Here the Shuiktu dojo runs things, and you guys just do what we tell you!"

"Don't make me laugh! You guys call yourselves warriors! The only thing you deserve is the title of ignorant losers!" Sakura countered. The grunt's gripped increased and he raised his hand for a slap.

"You bitch! I'll teach you…!" But before he swung a strong grip wrapped around his arm. When he turned around he saw his leader. "B-Boss?"

"Hold on." With that, the leader turned to Li, who just shot him a normal glare. "I don't like the way this guy is looking at us. What's your name?" Li just ignored him and continued to look at the menu.

"Can't you hear!" Another grunt yelled. "The boss asked your name! You had better answer him!"

"Why waste my breath, on a bunch idiotic assholes?" was Li's short reply.

"You have some nerve kid!" the leader chuckled as he drew his sword. "I like you, too bad I have to kill you." The amber-eyed swordsman just sighed, and stood up.

"If you feel the need, do whatever." The thug smirked and swung, but what he thought was Li, turned out to be an after image from his movement.

"What the-!" Before he could finish though, he fell to the ground unconscious with Li behind him with his hand in a chop position. The rest of the gang drew their swords and charged, only to be blown out of the restaurant by a sudden wind.

"Are you all right mister?" Sakura asked as she lowered her arm.

"Care to explain?" Li said simply. The old man nodded and after straightening out the restaurant and clearing out samurai thugs, the group sat at their table with the old man serving as he talked.

"As long as I can remember, this town has been protected and run by a Samurai family. It happened a while ago during one of the early wars. The lord turned his back on us during a grand attack, but one general from his army stayed to protect us with his troops. And that general established a sword dojo to teach other to defend this town. They also serve as keeps of peace, stopping any criminal or anyone who causes trouble."

"Don't tell me it was those punks that we just beat the crap out of," Kero said.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Li muttered causing the beast the send him a glare.

"Oh no, no. They were from the Satujin-ken dojo. The ones I am talking about, come from the Katsujin-ken dojo."

"Sword that brings death, and sword that brings life," Li translated. The old man nodded.

"Yes. Master Juruka runs the Katsujin-ken school. He and his family have been protecting our town for generations. Master Juruka believes his ancestor's belief of those with power should use to protect and help bring to this world. But about three years ago, a former general came and established his own school. Their master, Yoksu, believes swords should bring death, and that those with power should rule.

"Their difference in beliefs and principles were no problem at first, but then an incident occurred. A former criminal joined the Satujin-ken dojo, and began to run a rampage around the town. When some of the students from Master Juruka's school tried to stop him, they were brutally cut down along with ten other citizens. When Master Juruka went to Yoksu for atonement on behalf of the victims' family, Yoksu just laughed in his face, and ordered his students to attack Juruka. He escaped of course, and after that he decided that the Satujin-ken dojo should be removed. But Yoksu refused to leave, and continued to attack or townspeople. With no other options, Juruka told his students to defend us by any means, which has caused a major feud to break out between the two schools."

"Why hasn't the lord of this area done anything yet?" Tomoyo asked. "Surely a feud like this has caught his attention."

"No I'm afraid because our town holds no strategic or economic value, the lord has simply turned his back on us and any problem we face. This and because the Katsujin-ken students feel that their swords should be drawn as a last resort, has made the Satujin-ken school students think they can do whatever they want."

"I see, so that's why those guys walked in like they owned the place," Sakura replied. The old man nodded.

"The only thing we town people can do is wait and see who prevails." After a few minutes of silence, it was clear that the old man had nothing else to say, so Li got to his feet.

"Let's go," he said simply. Sakura and Tomoyo got up and bowed to the old man before they left.

"Hey Li," Sakura began.

"No. We aren't getting involved in this. Let's just pick up some supplies and go. We have a lot of ground to cover." Sakura was about to protest when the sound of a table breaking caught her attention. She turned her head and saw inside another restaurant, similar Samurai from before, and they were circled around a young boy. The boy wore a green robe that went over his small gi, similar to the Samurai around him. The boy slowly got to his feet, and drew a sword that was clearly too large for him. The boy barely managed to lift it at all.

"You bastards are going to pay for the lives you took yesterday!" the boy declared. The red cloaked Samurai around him just laughed at the boy who was clearing using all his energy just to hold the sword. One of the thugs managed to kick the boy to the ground with merely a tap of his foot. As Sakura listened, she couldn't help but make a fist. That kid was going to get himself killed at this rate, but her legs just kept following the others. By now the kid was on the ground surrounded by the thug samurai, being kicked like dog. She could see him trying desperately to reach for his sword, but it was too far for him.

With one last cry from the boy, Sakura thrust out her arm, blowing the thugs into the walls of the restaurant behind them. The crowd instantly began to talk amongst themselves about where that odd wind had come from. Li turned around and sure enough Sakura was standing in front of the fallen boy like a shield. The young man growled and took all of his self control not to go over there and just yell at her. What the hell was so hard about staying out this mess!

"Leave this boy alone," Sakura said sternly as the thugs began to get up.

"Who the hell is this?" one of the thugs muttered already drawing his sword.

"Must be the kid's bodyguard or something. The Katsujin-ken school is so pathetic it needs some no-name to protect its heir!" Sakura looked down at the boy who was by now on his feet and his sword ready.

"Shut up!" he yelled. "I don't need her help!" With that he charged in, only to be knocked back with a simple kick. Sakura responded to this by blowing the guy back into the others with her wind.

"I told you to leave this boy alone," she repeated herself.

"So this girl knows some magic eh? This could be fun." They drew their swords and rushed towards the young girl, who froze, not knowing which one to go for. But once the thugs were in range to use their swords, a green blur came past her, and the samurai. The thugs seemed as if they were frozen in place, but the second Li's sword clicked against his sheath, it was as if that was their cue. The clothes they were wearing were completely sliced to pieces, and they fell over with slash marks all across their chests.

"Wow," the boy muttered.

"What part of 'Don't get involved' don't you understand!" Li yelled at the girl.

"He was in trouble! I had to do something!" Sakura yelled back. Tomoyo sighed and walked up to the boy.

"Are you alright?" she asked kindly. The boy just looked away and nodded. "What's your name?"

"Kotaro Juruka," the boy muttered.

"Should the heir to an important dojo be doing such reckless things?" Kotaro ignored her, and turned to Li and Sakura who were still arguing with each other.

"Hey," he said, getting their attention. "I guess I owe you guys a thank you."

"You owe us a lot more than that," Li muttered, but Sakura elbowed his ribs.

"If you guys are interested I could bring you to the dojo for a meal as a thank you. That and I'm sure my father would be eager to meet you."

"Will take it!" Kero exclaimed before anyone could respond, earning him odd looks from the group. "What? Free food, come on!"

OOOOO

The dojo was in the town outskirts, and looked more like a castle than a sword school. There was a large outer wall that circled around the entire perimeter with a gate that looked like a pain to open in the center. There were watchtowers that towered over the walls allowing guards to spot potential trouble. Once the gates were open there was a long path that went through a colorful and lively garden, and led to a medium sized dojo hall.

The hall was filled with students doing different forms, attack-defense drills, and other practices. On a risen platform an elderly man sat on his knees observing his students. His age was apparent by his graying hair and small wrinkles around his face. When he spoke, he spoke in a deep elderly voice.

"Kotaro, you're back." The students stopped what they were doing and bowed to the young boy before returning to the their drills. The man stood and approached his son. He looked at him as if he already knew he had done something wrong. "I heard you tried to attack several Satujin-ken school students today." The boy looked shocked for a few seconds before looking away.

"How did you know?" he muttered.

"You could have been killed!" the aging man continued, ignoring his son's question.

"At least I'm doing something," Kotaro muttered, but this get past the master.

"What was that?"

"I said at least I'm doing something! At least I'm trying to seek out revenge for those who lost loved ones to those bastards rather than sending some damn condolences!"

"Revenge solves nothing!" Juruka said sharply. "I've told you this before!"

"But they're walking all over us dad! Doesn't it bother you! People are suffering all because you can't gather the courage to fight back!"

"Our purpose is to protect the townspeople, and a battle with the Satujin-ken school would only cause even more unnecessary causalities we must do all we can to avoid that! There are other options!"

"And is sitting on your butt while the people you swore to protect suffer under those bastards one of those options! You used to be such an honorable swordsman dad, what the hell happened! Are you that afraid of the Satujin-ken's master! Is that it? Cause if it is you shame the name Samurai!" And with that the boy stormed off. The aging fighter just sighed as he watched his son slam his door as soon as he entered his room.

"My apologies for that," he said to the small group. "We've been arguing like that ever since the Satujin-ken school started this."

"It's okay, I'm sure every parent goes through this type of thing with their children some shape or form," Sakura replied.

"So I assume that you are the ones who saved my son?"

"Well kind of," Tomoyo said. The master just smiled.

"How about some tea and some cookies?"

"Of course we'll take it!" Kero yelled, causing Li to punch him into the ground.

Juruka dismissed his students for the day and got some to volunteer to make the tea and bring out the cookies while they sat and waited in the hall.

"All we had to do was stop and get some supplies but no!" Li muttered angrily.

"Hey look on the bright side, at least we're getting some free food," Tomoyo said brightly.

"Yeah free food cancels out any misfortunes!" Kero exclaimed happily.

"You're only saying that because you're just a stomach with wings!"

"What was that you damn brat!"

"You heard me stuffed animal!" While Sakura tried to break up the two, Tomoyo turned to the aging master.

"So Master Juruka you say you and Kotaro argue like that often?"

"Yes. We've always had small arguments before, but they've gotten much worse once the Satujin-ken school was established. Kotaro is a passionate boy, and kind as well. I have absolutely no doubt that he will be a suitable master for this school. However he has the tendency to think solely with his emotions, which causes him to be impulsive. So once the murders started, it was to be expected that he would come to me to act. But I could not afford a large-scale battle, which would cause needless deaths, so I let it go.

"As time went on, the murders became more frequent, and Kotaro came to me more and more to act. But I could not think of a solution without bloodshed. So I told my students to only draw swords unless it was absolutely necessary. Kotaro said it wasn't enough, but it was the best I could do. I feel the suffering of the families of those killed, it truly breaks my heart, but I am at loss." The old man sighed as he took a sip of his tea that one of his students brought out. "That and I don't think I could handle any more needless deaths."

Tomoyo studied him as he said this, and couldn't help but see the sorrow, and guilt in his eyes. Before she could ask him about it, the doors to the dojo flew open, catching their attention. The doors revealed a small band of Satujin-ken students walking in with smug looks on their faces. Juruka instantly stood up and placed a hand over his sword.

"What is your purpose hear?" he asked sharply. One of the students just chuckled.

"Calm down old man it's not an attack or raid or anything. It's just a dojo challenge. One of ours against one of yours." By now all the students that had remained were in the hall with their hands over their swords ready to fight. Juruka relaxed his hand slightly and stood upright.

"All right. Who is your challenger?" At this question, the smug smirks on the red clad Samurais only increased. Without words they pointed to the door, causing the master to raise an eyebrow. But his unasked question was answered when a grand figure stepped into his hall.

He stood 6 or 7 feet and wore the same red-cloaked uniform as the others around him. The sword at his side was almost as massive as he was, it looked as if it could easily bring down a castle wall, let alone a dojo. His dark wild eyes looked around the room in search of an opponent. Master Juruka's eyes widened at the sight of him.

"Gorkyu," he muttered. The man known as Gorkyu just smiled madly.

"Good to see you old master. You certainly have gotten much smaller since I last saw you. Are you shrinking in fear of me!" Juruka just made a fist.

"You have some nerve showing your face again, after you defiled all that this dojo was created for!"

"Don't even start old man! I came here to fight not to talk about your worthless beliefs. Although fighting this weak dojo would probably just be a waste of my time anyway! I'll just pick whatever weakling I see!" His eyes fell on the small group that was sitting with the master, and his dark eyes met with amber. Gorkyu just smirked as he looked at Li.

"Problem?" he asked simply.

"You! I pick you! Fight me now!" he shouted like an excited child.

"I refuse."

"What was that!"

"I have better things to do with my time than waste them on a meathead like you." When the amber-eyed swordsman turned his back on the massive man, Gorkyu drew his sword, and raised it over his head like an axe.

"YOU DARE INSULT ME!" He bellowed as he brought down the sword with all his might. With no trouble at all, Li dodged the blow, but the force of the impact on the dojo, caused the entire building to shake as if in a powerful earthquake. Li was about to insult the man again for his obvious attack when he noticed that the entire bottom part of the right sleeve of his robes were cut off. When he looked over himself again he noticed several small cuts on his back and on his left side. After looking at his small wounds and the large man in front of him, the young man drew his sword, and dropped into a stance, which caused Gorkyu to grin deeply.

'This guy might be worth fighting after all.'

AN: Not really the best chapter in terms of action, but I needed to introduce the situation, and since the later fights do come from the situation spinning out of control, it's a necessary chapter. But still it was hard to write for me. I just couldn't get into it, which was why it took so long. I wanted to get out by the end of Memorial Day weekend, but since I couldn't really get into it, and I had a lot of family barbeques to go to, it was impossible. Anyway sorry if this chapter wasn't worth the long wait, but the next two chapters will be filled action I promise. Well the last chapter of this arc anyway, not so sure about the second yet. So without further ado, here's the preview for next chapter!

_Sakura: Dojo challenges, feuds, family honor, Samurai pride, remorse, idealism, I'm starting to miss fighting demons already, at least they had simpler motives._

_Tomoyo: As the fight between Li and Gorkyu starts, the odd techniques of the massive man are revealed, as is the relationship between him and master Juruka. _

_Sakura: Not only that but, the gap between Juruka and his son Kotaro is only increased when the impulsive boy is captured! How can a father help his son when his son doesn't even want his help? _

_Tomoyo: And what started this gap in this first place? You'll just have to find out in "Honor vs. Pride" next time on Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya then! _


	44. Honor vs Pride

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 44

There was complete silence within the dojo, aside from Gorkyu's arrogant laughter. The students of the two schools stood on the sidelines to give the two combatants plenty of room to maneuver. But from the looks and smirks coming from the Satujin-ken students, this match would easily go to Gorkyu in a matter of minutes. As Li remained in his stance, he took advantage of the calm to size up his opponent. From his size, his sword size, attitude, and arrogance, he could already make some educated guesses about his style. With the slight forward movement of his opponent's foot, Li's eyes narrowed, it was about to begin.

"Now let's start this match!" The giant shouted and attacked with a powerful downward attack like before. Li instantly jumped back, but suddenly it felt like something slammed full force into his chest, slamming him against the fall wall of the dojo. At first he wondered if he misjudged the shockwave of the sword hitting the ground, but he threw that possibility out. There was no way he could generate a shockwave powerful enough to throw him back that much, even with his size. So what was that, he asked himself. Figuring he would figure it out sooner or later, the young man went on the attack with a fast charge.

Seeing this coming, Gorkyu met the attack with a horizontal swing towards the charging young man. Li quickly jumped and used the large sword as a springboard to get clear above the giant's head. Li raised his sword over his head, intent on finishing this with one blow, but Gorkyu had plans to extend this fight. Despite his size, he managed to swiftly swing his sword upwards, catching Li off guard. The amber-eyed swordsman bent his upper back and pushed off against the blade into a backwards flip.

"Not bad," he said. Gorkyu just laughed.

"You are just as I expected you to be! It's been a while since I fought someone who could withstand more than one of my attacks!"

"Yeah it's a cause for celebration," Li muttered while rolling his eyes.

"Hey Gorkyu!" one of his comrades shouted. "Stop messing around and finish the brat!"

"Shut up!" the massive man yelled. "I'm going to enjoy this fight! Now let it continue!"

"As you wish," Li said and dashed towards his opponent. Gorkyu swung his sword like a bat towards the young man, who easily leaped into the air, only to crash into the floor by a strong punch in his stomach. As Li was still recovering, Gorkyu towered over him with his sword over his head ready to bring it down. The young man quickly rolled out of the path of the large sword and attack with a thrust. Gorkyu blocked the incoming attack with an armguard he was wearing on his wrist and smirked. After he pushed Li back, he dragged his sword along the floor in a semicircle motion, tearing up the dojo floor as he went. Li wondered what he was doing, but his question was answered when a powerful force hit against his chest again, making fly across the hall and crash flat on his back.

"What's wrong boy! Am I too strong for you!" Gorkyu laughed along with his comrades. "And you showed such promise too!"

"What's wrong brat! You're flying all over the place like a bird or something!" Kero yelled, making Li hurl a piece of floor debris at him.

"But still Kero has a point Li. It doesn't take you this long to finish a jerk like him," Sakura pointed out. Li ignored her, and went into a stance. While it might have looked like he was losing, he actually had this fight figured out.

"So you still want to continue eh boy! Fine! Let's go!" Taking that as his cue, Li dashed forward. Gorkyu attacked with a powerful downward strike, making Li dodged to the right, but was thrown into the wall by the same force.

"This is getting a little too redundant Gorkyu! Just finish the damn kid!" The giant just sighed, and raised his sword into a killing position.

"All right, all right. It was fun while it lasted kid." As Li got up, Gorkyu couldn't help but notice the smug smirk on his face.

"Don't think this fight just yet."

"What was that! What do you mean!"

"I just saw it. I can't believe I couldn't see it before, I had my suspicions though." With this Gorkyu began to get nervous, so did his comrades. Master Juruka narrowed his eyes.

"What in the world is he talking about?" Kero muttered as he rubbed the sore from where the debris hit him.

"You see your sword isn't actually a sword, it's more like a giant explosive. By saturating it with your aura, you can make anything it touches into a giant blast that you can control. So when your opponent think they dodged the sword, you can make the blast turn accordingly and send it towards your opponent. That's why I kept getting hit even though I thought I dodged it. But now that I know it's there, I won't be getting hit anymore."

"Wh-when did you figure this all out?" the giant asked nervously. Li shrugged.

"It took me a while, about our third little exchange. But now I think, it's time I wrap this up." With that Li charged again. Gorkyu raised his sword and slammed it against the floor.

"You might be able to see it, but that doesn't mean you can do anything about it!" he declared. But he was proven very wrong when Li pulled out his sheath and held it out in front of him. The incoming blast hit against it, and split into two weaker blasts making Gorkyu's eyes widen. Before he could attack with another blast, Li jumped high above him with both weapons ready to attack. The giant instantly shifted into an upward block position, but was caught off guard when Li attacked with his sheath first. The young man pushed down on the giant sword, to make himself turn in mid-air and be in a perfect position to use his sword.

The blow was fast and Gorkyu didn't even know what happened until Li landed and sheathed his sword. At that moment blood flew out of his body like a volcanic eruption. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell with a loud thud. The dojo was in a complete sense of shock, it took the giant's friends thirty whole seconds to realize what had happened and rushed to his side. It took all of them to haul the big man out of the dojo, but one managed to yell,

"We'll get you for this!" Li muttered a quick 'idiots' before sipping what was left of his tea.

"How were you able to see it?" Juruka asked as he walked up to him. "That technique was not meant to be seen until it was too late."

"Yeah well someone should have told that moron to use such assassination techniques only once, otherwise your opponent can think of many ways around them."

"You said that Gorkyu was once a student of yours, is that really true?" Tomoyo asked. The aging master nodded shamefully.

"I am ashamed to say I had planned giving my dojo to him once because Kotaro wasn't old enough. But his thirst for blood and violence went against every principle this dojo stands for. And in the end I had to send him away. Which was an even more foolish mistake, because it allowed Yoksu to persuade him into joining his dojo." Juruka sighed and looked down with a solemn look in his eyes. "It seems my life has been nothing but one mistake after another."

While Sakura and Tomoyo tried to think of way to cheer the old master up, Li took quick note of the look in his eyes before asking for some more tea.

OOOOO

At the southern outskirts of the town stood a steep mountain path that oversaw a small farm. At the end of the path stood a massive mansion house, but it was actually a dojo. Upon entering there was a large square courtyard with the markings of a ring around it. This was the main training area as it was pack with red clad samurai practicing brutal killing strokes. Overseeing them was a middle-aged man with a similar training uniform, only on the back had the character for "demon" in the center. He watched from a chair sitting on a balcony on the second floor of the mansion. He watched with a dark smile, like a general watching his units while he was planning an attack. He was Yoksu, master of the Satujin-ken dojo.

The doors to the dojo suddenly flew open to reveal the men who attacked the Katsujin-ken school with Gorkyu over their shoulders. The students stopped and looked at them with question marks over their heads.

"Master!" One yelled. "You have to help us!" Yoksu just sighed and signaled for their medic to take Gorkyu. Once the massive man was being treated, Yoksu ordered the group to his room.

The room was surprisingly small. There was a bookcase in the corner with a small table on the far side with his swords sitting on it. In his closet was his futon, but other than that, there was nothing else. But the group didn't have much time or thought to look around the room, since Yoksu was glaring at them with enough force to make it seem like he was trying to crack open their skulls.

"Tell me," he said in a surprisingly calm voice. "What happened? You were supposed to take out the best swordsman at Katsujin-ken. What the hell went wrong! How hard is it to take out one pathetic pacifist swordsman!"

"Believe me boss, this guy was no pacifist, didn't you see what he did to Gorkyu!" Yoksu just scoffed as he lit a cigarette.

"He probably just got lucky," he said simply.

"No way boss! The kid knew exactly what he was doing!"

"You expect me to believe a kid was the one who defeated Gorkyu! Don't make me laugh!"

"Please believe us boss!" Yoksu just rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Fine. It's obvious that you idiots can't handle a simple job. Karibe!" he called. At that moment a man wearing a black and red uniform with gloves that went up to his elbow, and at the end of both gloves was a long thin spike. His wild black spiky hair was tied in a high ponytail, and his eyes looked at his master with a savagery that was similar to his unruly hair.

"Yes master," he asked in a soft cold voice.

"Because your comrades failed so miserably, I want you to go to Katsujin-ken, and capture Juruka's son." The odd samurai nodded and within a blink of an eye he was gone.

"Boss, I thought that plan was supposed to be later?" Yoksu just smirked.

"Change of plans," he said simply. "This one is far more effective."

OOOOO

Sakura and Tomoyo sighed in pleasure as they sank in the hot outdoor bath that Juruka had one of his students prepare. Master Juruka had somehow convinced them to stay the night. Actually it was more that he had promised a warm meal, and Kero instantly jumped at the offer. The deal was set for the girls when the aging master mentions hot springs. They never expected a dojo to have this, but according to Juruka it helped clear the mind and body after a hard training. The bath was in the northwestern part of the gardens that the dojo was the center of. All around them there were all kinds of flowers giving off different scents making the bath even more enjoyable for the two girls.

"Hey Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura said after awhile.

"What is it?"

"I can't help but think about that argument between Kotaro and Master Juruka. They both seem so affected by something that causes them to feel so strong about their beliefs. Throughout that entire exchange I couldn't help but feel such painful emotions coming from them."

"You think something happened between them other than a difference in ideals?" Sakura nodded.

"That could be the reason. You think we can do anything to help them path things up?"

"I'm not sure. Problems like these usually have a way of playing themselves out. Besides we can't solve everything for them Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, your right," Sakura sighed. When she closed her eyes to become more relaxed in the bath, she thought she heard something rustle in the bushes. When she lifted her head, she thought she felt something fly right past her, but nothing was there when she looked around.

"What's wrong?" Tomoyo asked.

"I thought I saw something. It was probably nothing though." The dark haired girl just shrugged and went back to enjoying the bath. Sakura lowered herself into the water trying to relax, but couldn't shake the feeling of something or someone being out there.

OOOOO

Li let out a relaxed sigh as he lay out on the roof of the dojo. While he wasn't a big fan of the moon, he loved the stars. The purity and radiance that shone from them, and the calm feeling he would get from just looking up at them was something he just couldn't get during the day hours. No matter what happened to the Earth, no matter what changed, or what disappeared with time, the stars would always be there. Always the same. His thoughts were broken when he heard footsteps behind him.

"What do you want kid?" he asked without looking. Kotaro had look of surprise on his face. How he knew it was him without saying anything would surprise anyone. "Come on out with it." Li pushed getting annoyed already.

"I want to ask you something," Kotaro started. A grunt from the amber-eyed swordsman was his cue to continue. "Your skill is greater than anyone's I've seen before, and I can't stand to see people die by those bastards anymore. So I'm asking you to please, kill Yoksu! With his death I know that the Satujin-ken students will be in chaos and confusion, which is the perfect chance to take them out once and for all!"

"Shouldn't this be something you should be asking your father about? Why ask a complete stranger?"

"You don't understand! My dad is a complete worthless weak fool! He actually thinks he can solve this problem without spilling blood! How idealistic can he be! He hasn't seen the amount of suffering and anguish the people that he swore to protect are going through! I can't stand it! 'Don't draw swords unless it's necessary,' 'Fighting solves nothing,' It's all a bunch of bullshit! Where's his sense of pride! Doesn't he care about that! He's so obsessed with maintaining his damn 'honor' that's he forgotten about the pride of his dojo and style! It sickens me! And the worse thing is, I used to look up to him."

"So you think by killing Yoksu you'll prove your father wrong, is that it?"

"Exactly. So will you do it?"

"Hell no."

"What why! I know you can do it! Don't tell me your afraid of Yoksu too!" Li looked at the kid like he was crazy, then scoffed and went to looking at the stars.

"You just don't get it do you," Li said simply, making Kotaro raise his eyebrow.

"What are you talking about! What don't I get!"

"And your father wants to pass his dojo down to you? He might as well give it to a blind stubborn mule!"

"Why you…!"

"Shut up listen. Why do you think this dojo studies "the sword that gives life" anyway? To insure that problems like these can be solved without bloodshed or death. To show that a sword isn't just a weapon made for death, and suffering. Your father is trying to uphold those principles while trying to find a solution, and you my hot headed friend aren't helping any." Kotaro made a fist.

"Don't tell me you believe that bullshit that swords can give life! They only take it away! It's impossible! A sword is a weapon of death only! Nothing can change that!"

"True. But what's also true, is that a sword is nothing but an object. It can't take away or give anything on its own. What it ultimately takes away or gives depends on the wielder." Kotaro scoffed and turned away.

"You're starting to sound just as idealistic as my father." Li scoffed as well.

"Maybe so. But I'm just telling you what your father has been trying to teach you, but you were too blinded by your anger, and stubbornness to take it in."

"Shut up. I'm sorry I ever asked you for such a request anyway! You're just another coward hiding behind that stupid concept of honor. Honor is nothing but weakness, something that holds you back." Li was about to do something when he sensed a presence. Thinking quickly, he jumped to his feet, and tackled Kotaro to the ground, allowing the aura to pass over them. A cold voice chuckled within the darkness after the aura passed them.

"I'm impressed you could avoid my attack, especially in the darkness like this." Li stood up and drew his sword.

"Just come out. Stealth is useless once I know you're out there," he said to the darkness. The voice chuckled and stepped out of the shadows.

"Greetings. I am Karibe." Besides his weird outfit, the one thing that struck Li the most was his odd sword. It had two fang-like spikes on the bottom part of the blade and the top. The green clad swordsman wasn't sure if it was for show or for something else, and to make matters worse he could feel an aura of evil coming from that sword.

"What do you want here? A dojo challenge or something?" Karibe shook his head, and pointed to a frozen Kotaro.

"No. Him!" With that Karibe shot forward and attacked with a fast thrust. Kotaro closed his eyes and waited for the impact, but instead he heard a loud CLANG. When he opened his eyes he saw Li in front of him, blocking the thrust with the flat part of his sword. With a twist of his upper body, he knocked the odd sword away and kicked its user back.

'He isn't like the other guy. He's actually pretty good,' Li thought to himself. Karibe laughed as he went down into a stance.

"You're good," he chuckled. "You must be the one who defeated Gorkyu. He almost died you know." Li scoffed.

"Almost? Damn, I was sure I killed him with that attack. Oh well, I'll kill you to make up for it." Karibe laughed as if Li had just told him a joke.

"I love it, that tone, those words! This will be a battle worth fighting!" After five seconds worth of staring each other down, the two dashed towards each other with their swords at the ready.

Karibe attacked with a series of fierce right-handed thrusts that Li managed to avoid. The red and black swordsman attacked with another one, and as Li moved to the side, his foot connected with the amber-eyed swordsman's temple in a strong kick, which knocked him to the ground. Seeing his chance Karibe raised his sword over his head, and came down with a powerful attack. Li rolled to the side and kicked the spiked fighter in the ribs. While he stumbled back Li came in with a fast slash across his chest. Karibe countered by impairing Li in the shoulder with one of his thrusts.

"Your not too bad," Li said as he placed an arm over his wound.

"Neither are you," chuckled his opponent as he fingered his new chest wound. The two smirked at each other before going at each other again. Karibe attacked with three fast slashes that Li jumped away from and came in with a thrust. Karibe parried and slammed his fist in the center of the amber-eyed fighter's forehead. As Li stumbled Karibe slashed his chest open and kicked him towards the edge of the roof.

Li grunted as he felt his new wound, it was surprisingly deep, and blood seemed to keep pouring out. It was then he understood the purpose of the spikes on the blade, it was for deepening the wounds he would inflict on his opponents. If he kept getting slashed like this, he would easily bleed to death.

"What's the matter!" Karibe exclaimed as he charged forward. "Not losing your nerve are you!" Li jumped away from a powerful downward strike and countered with a roundhouse kick that hit Karibe across his face. The black and red swordsman dug his foot in the ground to keep from going to far, and came in with a slash. Learning his lesson from last time, Li managed to block the incoming slash and head butt his attacker. As Karibe stumbled Li continued his assault by charging in with a fierce slash ready, but Karibe just smirked.

The second he was close enough, Karibe started to spin his sword arm like a wheel. Sensing nothing good coming from it, Li stopped himself just as Karibe came down. The black and red fighter chuckled as he examined his work. There was a large hole where the sword hit, which looked like a cannon struck.

"This is one of my favorite and most powerful attacks. Satujin-ken's Sword Wheel of Death!" Before Li could even have one thought about the new technique, Karibe rushed towards him with his arm already spinning like a wheel. With every step it seemed to get faster and faster until Li couldn't tell where the sword was anymore. Having no other choice, the young man jumped back as Karibe got closer. But this proved to be a bad decision when Li reached the edge of the roof.

'This is bad,' he thought. 'With the momentum from the spinning and the spikes on his sword, if he gets me with that attack, if the initial slash doesn't kill me, the bleeding defiantly will!'

"HA HA HA! You're trapped!" Li growled as he thought about his options. The circle that the attack spun in was too wide for him to try to dodge. No matter in which direction he went in, the possibility of getting hit was high. Even if he blocked, the force of the attack would be enough to knock him off and leave him vulnerable. As Karibe came closer, Li managed to see some sort of light coming from his sword arm. By following it with his eyes, he realized, he could use it to track Karibe's arm movements in the wheel and plan a counter accordingly. With a smirk, Li sheathed his sword and went into a stance.

"Come on."

"You must be ready to die right! Fine!" With that Karibe sped up and dashed towards his ready opponent. As soon as he was close enough Karibe attacked with an extremely fast slash from his wheel attack. Li smirked as he watched the light that came from his arm. Once it was inches away from his body, Li jumped to the side and drew his sword. A loud cry erupted and for a few seconds the air was covered with blood.

Li sheathed his sword and examined his work. Karibe was flat on his back with a deep upward slash wound from his stomach to the bottom of his throat. Needless to say, both Karibe and the area of the roof he fell on were covered with blood.

"Well that was some nice exercise," he said, and turned to Kotaro. "You okay?" The young man just nodded. Seeing there was no harm to the target, Li decided to go clean up his wounds. But the very second he turned his back to jump down, Kotaro let out a gasp. When the amber-eyed swordsman turned around, he saw Kotaro, being restrained by Karibe, who just laughed.

"Fool! Did you honestly think that you would defeat me! I will complete my master's assignment even if costs my life!" Despite his laughter, and confident speech, Li could tell he was on his last legs. He could see he was fighting his eyes not to roll back into his head, and he was panting as if he had been running a long race.

"That last part is going to come true at the rate your going!" Li warned. "You'll be dead by the time you reach your dojo!" Karibe just laughed weakly, but it sounded more like a wheeze.

"A reasonable price to pay." And with that Karibe disappeared within the blink of an eye.

OOOOO

"I see," Juruka said with a sigh when Li told him what had happened the next day. The old man was sitting in the dojo hall along with his students who were urging him to stage a rescue, and that they were willing to die to save Kotaro. But Juruka would have none of it.

"Master this time the Satujin-ken school has gone too far! We have to strike back!"

"We're willing to die to save your son master! We'll do anything you ask of us!"

"That's right! Kotaro is like a little brother to all of us, we'll do anything to save him!" A loud agreement arose from the rest of the students. But Juruka stopped it with a loud yell for silence.

"I know you're all willing to save Kotaro, but violence, and bloodshed will not solve the more pressing matter. While I respect your will to save my son, I must say, I will do this on my own."

"But master! It could be a trap! You'll be doing exactly what they want you to do!" The aging master got up with a sigh and took his swords.

"I will handle this my own way." And with that he left.

"He hasn't been the same since that incident four years ago," one of the students muttered.

"Can you blame him? After what happened, I would probably end up like that too."

"What? What happened four years ago?" Sakura asked. "If we knew we could probably help!"

"It's kind of a long story," one of the students said.

"We have time. So please tell us," Tomoyo replied. The students looked at each other and sighed. One of them decided to tell the tale.

"It started out like this…."

OOOOO

The second Juruka arrived at the Satujin-ken dojo, the tension increased nearly ten fold. Yoksu just chuckled as he watched the master carefully look at his students with his hand over his sword. When the two masters' eyes met the tension seemed to increase even more.

"What do you want here old man?" Yoksu asked innocently. Juruka glared at the other master.

"Where's my son," Juruka asked simply with an intense glare.

"Your son, your son?" Yoksu tapped his chin as if he was thinking. "Oh you mean him." And the master of the death sword signaled for two of his students to drag out the young boy, who was tied in ropes.

"What do you want?" Juruka asked coldly.

"Come to my room and I'll explain my terms." Seeing no other option Juruka followed. A few minutes later, the two rival masters were only within a few feet of each other. If one wanted to kill the other, it was fully possible. When their eyes met, Juruka instantly reached for his sword.

"I'll ask again, what do you want?" Yoksu just chuckled.

"Now, now, no need to get antsy. Have some tea, calm your nerves." When Yoksu drowned his cup he cleared his throat and spoke his terms. "You and I both know that this little feud of ours has cost us not only lives of our students, but the lives of the town people as well."

"This feud is hardly mutual. It is you and your students who are the aggressors…." Before Juruka could say anymore, Yoksu waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, as I was saying, if this continues, it's only a matter of time before this catches the lord's attention. If that happens he'll close down both our schools, and I know you don't want that." A nod from the aging master was his signal to continue. "So I suggest a duel, to the death. The one who lives is obviously the one with the better school, and needless to say, the loser's school will be closed down."

"Who will be fighting?" Yoksu chuckled as he took another sip of tea.

"Us." Juruka's eyes narrowed. "If you kill me you'll get your son back and my school will be forced to close its doors. If you die, your school, and your son go with you. What do you say?"

"Fine. I agree." Yoksu smirked darkly.

"It will happen tomorrow at dusk, in the fields in the western outskirts of town."

"All right."

"I look forward to our duel."

AN: Oh man this took way longer than I thought! I wanted to get this out, the first of my Summer Vacation, which started June 12, but a mixture of laziness, writers block, and lack of will to write this chapter got in my way. That and I had a lot of trouble. I had to rewrite this chapter about four times before I was satisfied. The first couple of versions focused too much on the fighting and as a result it seemed very hollow. While I am a big fan of fighting, fights to me are even better when there is some kind of emotional conflict behind them or something else going on around it. That and I wanted to expand on the rift between Kotaro and his dad. Not sure if I did that fully, but it's close enough. Also, I needed to extend this into a four chapter arc since three seemed too short, this will serve to be good for me since the chapter after the this arc will only be a one-shot thing. Anyway, since it's summer that means I'll have all kinds of free time to write, so expect more frequent updates. Also I have to say THANK YOU to EVERYONE WHO READS THIS FIC. I now officially have TEN THOUSAND SIXTY HITS! And we're still FAR FROM DONE PEOPLE! SO THANKS A LOT! And without further ado, here the preview for the next chapter:

_Sakura: What? This entire situation is going to be decided in one duel? I don't like the sound of that. Why does master Juruka feel he has to do this when his sword style is the "Sword that Brings Life?" _

_Tomoyo: Maybe the answer lies in his past that is revealed to us by his students. _

_Kero: Whatever happens I have a feeling that this duel isn't as legit as we think. _

_Sakura: We have to stop that duel! So join us next time in: "Honorific Vices" Next Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya! _


	45. Honorific Vices

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 45

The dojo was silent as one of the students began to tell the small group of Juruka's past. The student, Tskiu took a deep breath and was quiet for a few moments as if he was trying to find the best place to start. His eyes looked around the room for a few seconds before finally starting.

"Master Juruka, years ago, was a general for the Lord of this area. He was a loyal and honest soldier as I've heard. He did whatever he was told without question. He was also one of the best swordsmen the Lord had, and the Lord didn't plan an attack without asking Master Juruka for his input and opinion first. He was truly the best warrior this area could have.

"It was one a mission that he met his wife, Yayoi. She was quite the woman, graceful, kind, gentle, and beautiful. She was even able to make the Master forget his duties, which is really quite the accomplishment. I was with him when they first met, I can still remember the look in his eyes when he first saw her."

_Flashback_

It was a hot summer day with clouds gone from the sky. Accenting the heat was the unbearable humidity from the rain that fell only a few days ago. The people of the town were sitting in the shade, fanning themselves with whatever they could find. Despite the unbearable heat however, there were two who wore long cloaks with the symbol for their Lord on the back.

"Damn it! How are we supposed to find the general of the opposing army in this heat!" a younger form of Tskiu complained. "Besides I doubt he would do anything in board daylight in this heat! We might as well go back to camp!" The taller figure next to him just chuckled.

"The lord has his reasons for sending us here. Also it is about a three hour walk from here to camp anyway, so we might as well do our best here," a younger Juruka said wisely. Tskiu just scoffed.

"You always have a reason to justify the Lord reasoning, even if it is the craziest thing he could ask." Juruka just shrugged.

"We are in his service. Who are we to question him? If we questioned him all the time then nothing would be done now would it?" Tskiu just groaned and leaned against a wall in the shade.

"I'm taking a break," he announced as he slid down.

"Suit yourself. I, on the other hand, will do my assigned duty." Juruka turned to face the road to see if any suspicious characters were walking by, when he saw a vision of pure beauty. Walking along the road was a beautiful woman with long flowing hair, and wore an elegant greenish blue kimono. She turned her gaze towards the awestruck solider, giving him a full view of her deep brown eyes. The feeling in Juruka's legs seemed to vanish as he watched her walk by without words.

"So…what was the mission again?" Tskiu asked the older solider.

"So…beautiful…" was Juruka's only reply. The younger soldier just rolled his eyes and took a nap in the shade.

_End Flashback_

"At that point I thought it was pure infatuation. The master requested to stay in the town even longer just to catch another glimpse of her, talk to her even. I kept on thinking 'what a fool.' At dinner he would always have this weird look in his eyes and he wouldn't even give the men orders on where to go in the town or how to act. Every time we went, he would practically sprint there. It was really pathetic to watch I thought."

"I imagine," Li agreed.

"That sounds like someone in love all right," Tomoyo and Sakura giggled together.

"You really have no idea. On days that he would see her, he would just watch her as she walked by, sometimes would even follow her. If you think this is bad, you should have been there when they had their first conversation."

_Flashback_

It was a cool day with the clouds floating in the sky like boats, and the sun being covered constantly. The woman was walking along the street with Juruka not far behind, but he was hiding behind as many things as he could find. The woman made a sudden turn into an alley, and as expected, Juruka followed, with Tskiu groaning not to far behind him. Juruka was caught off guard when the woman was just standing in the center of the alleyway.

"You have been following me for sometime now," she said suddenly. "What is it you want?" Juruka was speechless, had she really known all this time?

"I…just…. never seen anyone of you beauty. Forgive me…I never meant to cause trouble for you," the soldier admitted. Rather than getting a cold scoff or a sneer, the woman just chuckled.

"You're not like all the others," she said softly. "Most would at this point would get on their hands and knees and beg for me to be their wife. Or just come at me to try and make me theirs, you're the first to truly apologize like that."

"Would be too much trouble…for me to…. ask your name?" The woman gave a smile, and replied,

"Yayoi, I am Yayoi. Please remember it."

_End Flashback _

"After that he became less obsessive with her, and could actually remember what we were here for, but we couldn't go into town without him wanting to see her at least once. It was the same for her as well I think. Every time he would approach her, I would see her face brighten if only for a second. She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and was trained to attract men as possible husbands. But I think she wanted more than that because the men she were supposed to attract were men who only thought of marriage as a business or just a way to gain more for themselves, not a joining of two people that love each other.

"That's why she was always so satisfied when the master would see her. He didn't treat her like some object or just a gateway for more wealth. He treated her like a person. And I could tell, with the Master she would express emotions she clearly could not express when with her father or others. And the master I knew was able to forget the duties that he was bound to as well. They could just be ordinary people with each other. The whole affair only took a month, but at the end of the month, the Master asked Yayoi to marry him, and of course she agreed. When the Lord's war was over, the Master immediately returned to the town, and they married."

"Just like that?" Tomoyo asked. "I imagine her father would put up some sort of resistance." Tskiu nodded.

"You're right, that's why they married in secret."

"They eloped?" Sakura squealed softly. "How romantic." Tskiu chuckled at the girl.

"They returned here, where the Master took over the dojo, and not too long after that Yayoi had a son, Kotaro. For a while, everything seemed so perfect. And when I really think about it, it was."

_Flashback_

The dojo was filled with the grunts of the sparring students as they focused on their matches. When a younger student fell, Juruka got up from his seat and began to inform the younger student about his footing and what he was doing wrong. Juruka was about to tell the boy to try it again when the door to the dojo opened. In the doorway was Yayoi with a four-year-old Kotaro behind her leg.

"You're still here," she said. "Have you forgotten what day it is?" Juruka gave her a knowing smile as he stood up.

"Of course not." He clapped his hands to get his students' attention. "Everyone, I'm sorry to say, but class is over for now. We'll continue this tomorrow." The students exchanged questioning looks at each other before getting their things together. While his students were gathering their equipment, Juruka walked over to his wife and gave her a small box. Then they shared a deep loving kiss.

"Happy Anniversary."

_End Flashback_

"It was like that for a few years. And looking back, I think that those were the only years the master was actually truly happy with his life," Tskiu sighed and continued. "But those happy years only lasted for a few years. When Kotaro was eight, that's when that incident happened. The Lord called him back into service. The town was about to be attacked, so the Lord sent the master to stop them. However, the force that the master was fighting was only a distraction. The real force attacked the town. When Master Juruka got the message, he was already too far to be of any use, but he rushed as fast as he could."

_Flashback _

The rain was pouring like a river, and the sounds of battle overpowered the sound of the hard rain. The blood from the soldiers ran along the flowing water on the muddy ground. The sound of steel clanging against steel and the sounds of soldiers' battle cries filled the air. But as time went on the loud sounds of battle began to die down and the sound of pouring rain began to take over. Juruka and men stood proudly as they watched their opponents' retreat. But the pride of their victory was short lived when Tskiu came rushing towards his master.

"Master! Master! Master!" he yelled. "This whole attack was just one big distraction! The true force is in the town! Many have died so far and right now the force is heading towards the Northeastern part of the town! Towards the dojo!" Juruka's heart stopped. His breath became shallow, and for a moment the whole world seemed to freeze. Without another word to his troops, the master dashed off the battleground and sprinted towards the town.

"Master!" the soldiers called, but he was deaf to their ears. Despite the mud, low visibility, and slippery ground, he still ran as fast as he could.

'Yayoi, Kotaro! Please, please be all right!' he repeated over and over again in his mind praying to all the gods that it would come true. When he finally reached the town, it was covered in bodies and the brown mud was red with blood. On the streets were dark looking men with their twisted eyes fixed on the approaching man. In no time at all they attack, only to be cut down in one swift motion by the sprinting warrior. Not even giving his attackers another eye, he continued to sprint towards his endangered home.

When he reached his dojo his hand shook like it was in the middle of an earthquake, and his heart beat hard against his chest. Water rolled down his forehead like the hard rain. Weather it was sweat or from the rain he wasn't sure. His breath was caught in his throat, his chant from his way here kept going on in his head, hoping against hope it would come true. With everything he had, he squeezed his eyes shut and flung the door open.

When he opened his eyes, his heart broke into so many pieces he thought for sure he would die. His legs gave way to his weight and he fell to knees with tears rolling down his eyes. On the floor was his beloved wife, surrounded by a pool of her own blood. And clutching her frozen hand was his son crying his eyes out calling out to her.

He had failed his loved ones.

_End Flashback _

"And that's what happened," Tskiu said slowly. "After that, the master and Kotaro were never the same. Kotaro began to question his father and that's when their arguments began. And the master never once picked up his sword again. He withdrew from the Lord's army and focused solely on teaching us the Katsujin-ken.

"Things only got worse when the Satujin-ken school came, and the killing of the towns people began. Kotaro because of his mother's death became vengeful and bitter. So that contributed to him wanting to kill the Satujin-ken students in the name of revenge for the fallen. And the Master wanted to avoid violence because he couldn't handle the loss of more people he cared about. So it's only natural they would clash so much. But no matter how you look at it, neither would really solve anything, but they can't see that. The death of Yayoi so fresh in their minds they can't see anything else. It's as if Yayoi was what was holding them together, and with her gone, they've lost their way."

The group was silent as they processed the tale that was just told to them. Sakura couldn't help but feel sorry for the both of them. Kotaro in one day, lost his mother and lost all sense of trust or hope in his father. And Juruka lost the one person who could make him feel like any other person. And as a result of that, lost all hope and will in what he once believed in. They had both lost their way, and she wanted to help them somehow, but wasn't sure if she could.

The silence in the dojo seemed to last for hours, but was finally broken when the door opened to reveal Juruka.

"Ah, Master, welcome back," Tskiu greeted. The rest of the students followed suit. Juruka only responded with a grunt and took his place at the front of the hall.

"It's good all of you are sitting," he said. "I have something to tell all of you." And with that he began to tell his students the circumstances of the final duel.

"Are you crazy master!" one of the students yelled when the story was finished. "There is no way that Yoksu would do as he says! It's obviously a trap! How can you not see that!"

"Even if it is a true one-on-one duel why does it have to be you! Why can't you send one of us to fight!"

"It's too dangerous master! Call this off before it's too late please!"

"Enough!" Juruka shouted. "Weather it is a trap or not, I am still going. It is the only way I see to end this feud and avoid the loss of more life. If I die, Tskiu, I want you to take over the dojo until Kotaro is old enough." Tskiu's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"M-me, Master?" he stuttered. The aging swordsman nodded.

"I can think of no better person. Teach them well." Tskiu just nodded dumbly, his ability to speak long forgotten. "Now then, to pray to Buddha." As the master walked off, his students began to talk amongst themselves about this new turn of events.

"What do you think he's thinking?"

"Is he crazy! It's obviously a trap!"

"Maybe he's just lost the will to live."

As Buddhist chants and prayers flowed out of his mouth, Juruka couldn't help but think of probably the last conversation he had with his son.

_Flashback (God there's a lot in this chapter!) _

"I look forward to our duel," Yoksu sneered as he took a gulp of his tea. Juruka ignored his soon to be opponent and looked over to his son who refused to look at him in the eye.

"I have something I need to say to my son, please leave us for now." Yoksu just shrugged and walked out his room, leaving the father and son to their own vices. It took a few minutes of awkward silence for Kotaro to speak up.

"So start talking," he muttered. "You have something to say right? Just say it and get it over with!"

"This could be our last conversation together, and that's all you have to say to me?" Juruka whispered.

"What do you want me to do? Fall into your arms, crying and begging you not to go? Don't make me laugh. There's no way I would cry in front of you anyway." The master let out a brief sigh.

"Would you prefer it if I was your mother then?"

"Don't you dare bring up mom! I can't believe you can say her name at all after you failed to protect her! Did you even lover her? Or was it just another way for you to be qualified to become master of that worthless school!"

"I told you this before Kotaro! I was fighting troop approaching the town! I was doing my duty!"

"Your duty, your duty! That's all you ever think about! It was your stupid duty that ultimately killed mom! You could have been there to save her! You could have left your damn duty to that old fart you call a Lord and save your family!"

"A Samurai is not one for personal emotions!"

"Don't give me that Bushido shit dad! You're not some damn mindless corpse! You're human! Think for yourself!" The two sat in silence for another set of minutes before Juruka said,

"You're right." This instantly caught Kotaro's attention. "You're right Kotaro. I should think for myself. Ever since your mother died, I've questioned everything. From religion, to all the orders I have followed over the years. As I thought about them I couldn't help but think, 'Is duty really blindly following what others tell you, and hoping that whatever it is, is the right thing to do?' I am not sure if I have found the answer, but if I live through this duel, I will tell it to you. If I don't, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

With that the master left his awe struck son alone in the room.

_End Flashback (Last one I swear!) _

'Yayoi,' he prayed. 'Please watch this duel. Win or lose I feel something will change.'

OOOOO

The next day a heavy dark air filled the dojo. Today was the day of the duel. This was probably the last breakfast the students' beloved master would have. After breakfast Juruka rose to his feet and opened the door to reveal pouring rain. He sighed as he picked up his umbrella and walked outside.

'Ironic,' he thought. 'That probably the last day of my life is a day like this.' The aging swordsman spent the rest of the day say final goodbyes to the towns people and praying at the gravesites of those who died during the Katsujin-ken and the Satujin-ken's fights. He finished off his free time by visiting his wife's grave. When he returned, he found Li sitting on the roof just staring up at the rain.

"I see you like the rain," he said to the young man, who scoffed back at him.

"Hate it," he corrected simply.

"And yet you're still out here?"

"Better than staying inside that heavy aired dojo."

"I see." Silence passed over them for a while before Juruka broke it. "I have a favor to ask."

OOOOO

The second dusk over came the world, the air of the entire town grew heavy. Their fates rested solely on the result of this one duel. If Juruka won, peace for them was assured, if he died, their lives would become an existence of pure fear. The Satujin-ken school could have their way with them with no one to rescue them. The people bowed deeply as Juruka walked through the town towards the meeting place. His hands were already saturated with sweat within his sleeves, and his heart refused to beat normally.

It only became worse when he finally reached the duel point. All he could hear was the fast repetition of his heart as Yoksu approached with two people at his side. One was his son, and the other was a tall man with spiky long blonde hair. He wore the normal Satujin-ken uniform but what was striking to Juruka the most was he had four swords. Two on his hips and two on his back. How he used all of them in battle, Juruka had no idea.

"I see you came after all," Yoksu chuckled. His eyes instantly fell on the person at the master's side, Li. "Who's that?"

"My bodyguard. In case you go back on word. I see you thought the same thing."

"Well, at any rate, shall we begin?"

"Yes." The two masters stepped away from their bodyguards and faced each other silently. The grass in the field went up to their ankles and there were hardly any trees except a small clump on the southwestern side. The town was still within seeing distance but the actual walk still took a while. The three onlookers tensed when the two fighters' eyes met. Their hands slowly reached for their swords as they both took one cautious step forward. Sweat from their brows dripped down their chins and their breaths were fast and shallow.

Juruka felt as if his throat was a desert as he swallowed. The hand on his sword hilt shook uncontrollably, and his feet refused advance anymore. He could tell his opponent had the same trouble as he noticed the small spark of fear in the once cocky rival. Taking a few deep breaths, Juruka took one step forward, then another, and another until he broke out in a jog. Seconds later, it was a full-blown run. Seeing his opponent defeating his nerves, it only took Yoksu a few seconds to conqueror, and the two masters were sprinting towards each other, both with their hands ready to draw their swords.

The onlookers' ears echoed as the sound of steel colliding against steel each their ears.

CLANG! The duel had begun.

Their swords were locked together for only a moment before Juruka pushed Yoksu back, making him stumble. The aging master attacked with a yell as he brought down his sword. Yoksu quickly sidestepped the incoming attack and countered with a horizontal slash towards his opponent's stomach. Juruka managed to jump back, and used the ground to push off into a fast thrust. Yoksu blocked the attack the flat of his sword and connected with an elbow to Juruka's cheek. The rival master, seeing his opening attacked with a fierce slash. Juruka quickly blocked with an overhead block and pushed the sword to side to bring Yoksu into a punch to his face.

Juruka planted his foot firmly into the ground and attacked his rival with a fast horizontal slash. Yoksu blocked the incoming attack and kneed the older man in his stomach. Juruka stepped back while Yoksu charged forward. The older swordsman spun on the ball of his feet into a slash that cut open the top part of Yoksu's chest, but Yoksu paid him back with a thrust through his shoulder. The peaceful swordsman jabbed his rival between his eyes with his sword hilt and jumped back.

"Interesting you seem to be still in touch with your sword instincts," Yoksu chuckled as he felt the forming bruises along his face.

"I can see you still have yours as well."

"But don't get too cocky old man. I still have some tricks up my sleeve."

"As do I." With that the two charge again. This time their speed increased, and with each passing minute Li could tell the speed of their movements were only increasing. It soon got to a point where not even he could fully make out what was happening. As far he could tell though, it was as if he was watching a dance.

After another meeting with their swords, the two masters jumped back for another break. Two minutes later they charged at each other again. Juruka attacked with a fast veridical slash only to have his sword pass through a transparent image of his rival. At that moment, Yoksu appeared behind him and slashed open his back with a dark smirk. The peaceful master dug his foot into the ground and spun himself into a slash, but Yoksu easily dodged it.

The younger swordsman pushed off against the ground and attacked with a thrust towards his rival's other shoulder. Juruka quickly knocked the incoming attack upwards and countered with a slash towards his chest, but his sword only went through another transparent image. Juruka instantly looked behind him only to have his chest sliced open in an X form. Juruka stepped back with his blood flowing out of him like a fast moving river. Juruka took a step back, but Yoksu slammed his foot against the elder's bleeding chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Give up old man. At the rate you're going I'm going to kill you for sure," Yoksu said to the elder master, who struggled to stand upright.

"I refuse," Juruka replied slowly. "I refuse to allow the town to be consumed by your twisted ideals of the sword! I will finish this even if I die! I will take you with me!" Yoksu just smirked as he sheathed his sword and shifted his weight into a stance.

"Suit yourself." Juruka narrowed his eyes and went into the same stance as his rival.

'They're both going to end this with whoever can draw their sword faster,' Li noted. A cold wind blew through the field making the three onlookers shiver with cold and anticipation. Within a blink of the eye the contest was over and the two masters had passed each other already.

All was still for a moment. The wind had stopped, and it seemed even the rain had frozen in time as the witness waited eagerly for the result.

The sound of a sword snapping and a loud explosion of blood was their answer.

Kotaro's eyes widened in a unimaginable horror as he saw his father fall over into a pool of his own blood with his sword broken in two.

"DAD!" he bellowed with tears flowing down his eyes. The captured boy rushed over to his dying father's side to at least hear his final breath. "Dad! Dad! Dad! Talk to me! Please!" The dying master slowly opened his eyes and gave his son a weak smile.

"K-K-Kotaro. I've finally found my answer." He took a deep raspy breath before continuing. "You have a…. duty…. an honor bound responsibility…. Both to yourself…. and your Lord. But… it is neither…. blindly following orders…. or killing those…. in the name of revenge…. It is the…the…. will to…. put your life on the line…. to do…what is right! I failed in that…. Which is why I lost your mother…. But I hope I made up for that."

Kotaro could speak; all he could do was stay at his father's side until he finally passed on.

"Grow up… To be strong…. Kotaro…." With those final words, Juruka's eyes rolled into his head, and his heart slowly stopped beating. The Master of the Katsujin-ken school was dead.

Yoksu just laughed as he sheathed his sword. "Looks like this town is mine! Shaku!" he yelled at the tall blonde. "Kill the kid to make sure that stupid school never revive itself!"

"I don't think so," Li said coldly as he drew his sword. "The last thing that old man asked me was to take his place if he was to die. So I'll fight you in the name of the Katsujin-ken school." Yoksu just laughed as he prepared to draw his sword.

"Fine, if you wish you die that badly! But still, Shaku! Kill the kid!"

"You got it boss!" the tall man smirked darkly as he prepared to draw his two hip swords. But he was cut off when Li yelled out,

"Now!" At that moment, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew him to the ground. Seconds later, Keroberos swooped down and grabbed Kotaro with his mouth with Tomoyo and Sakura on his back. Li quickly turned to them. "Take the kid and get out of here." The two girls nodded and Kero flew off. Yoksu shot a bitter look towards his subordinate.

"Don't just sit there you freakin' moron! Go after them! Kill that kid and those girls! And get me the pelt of that stupid beast!"

"You got it boss!" Shaku nodded and ran after Keroberos. Yoksu turned to Li and shifted into a stance. Li did the same.

"Now shall we begin?" the Master asked.

"Yeah."

AN: Man, thought I'd never finish this chapter! A lot of flashbacks as I stated earlier, and I found it hard to work with the dialogue. This chapter was supposed to tie everything together in this arc so I wanted the dialogue to be good. I hope it was fine. Originally, Juruka's past story was only like three pages long, then my computer suddenly shut down and I lost all the data. It took me a while to get back into typing because I felt like it would be killer to retype. (Pure laziness right there) When I thought about I thought the one I had before didn't really explain much so I extended it with flashback so you could get a feel for Yayoi and Juruka when he was younger. Originally I didn't even give Yayoi or Tskiu names, but I obviously fixed that. Anyway here's the preview for the next chapter. See ya then!

_Sakura: While Li fights Yoksu for the fate of the town, I have to fight Shaku, a master of four swords, and Tomoyo and Kero have to get Kotaro to safety! _

_Tomoyo: To make matters worse, Yoksu pulls out a weird technique that Li can't counter, and Sakura can't keep up with Shaku! _

_Kero: Can we beat these guys and restore peace to the town? You'll just have to see "A Final Blow for Honor" Next Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!_


	46. A Final Blow for Honor

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 46

"Now shall we begin?" the Master asked with his hand over his sword, ready to draw.

"Yeah," Li replied dryly as his hand went behind him to his sword. The amber-eyed swordsman took a small step forward, and quickly noted on Yoksu's tightened grip on his sword hilt.

Without another moment of hesitation, Li dashed towards the sword master and drew his sword into a fast slash to his neck. Yoksu quickly ducked under it and drew his sword so fast, Li almost lost track of it. The young man quickly flipped backwards, avoiding being sliced in half. The moment his feet touched the ground, he dashed forward again into a series of fast slashes. Yoksu began to back up as he avoiding the attack. The older man blocked an incoming attack to his stomach and pivoted into a slash that cut Li's stomach open.

The green clad swordsman clutched his stomach as he took a step back. Yoksu quickly advanced and attacked with a powerful thrust. Li spun on his right foot, dodging the thrust and spun himself into a solid kick into the older man's chest. When he hunched over, the young man give him another swift kick to his face, which sent him falling on his back.

Yoksu rolled out of the way of a downward attack and stabbed Li in the leg as his counter as he got to his feet. As he the young man clutched his wounded leg, Yoksu gave him another wound to worry about, by stabbing him through his shoulder. Li gritted his teeth to avoid groaning. The old master pulled out his sword for another attack, but the young man took this as an opportunity to counterattack. The second the sword left his body; he gave the old man a strong punch to his face, breaking his nose on impact. As he stumbled back, Li gave him two deep slashes in his chest. The two jumped back from each other for a fast break.

"I see," Yoksu chuckled as he held his chest. "Your fighting style is very interesting. You use a combination of sword techniques and martial arts to avoid your opponent predicting them. Who was your master?"

"None of your business," the young man replied coldly, which caused another chuckle from the master.

"I also see from your sword attacks. Your technique is very similar to mine. With each strike you go for the kill. So why is a kid of your talents using your killing sword, to represent a sword style that is to give life?"

"Like I said, it was a favor for the old man. Now are we going to settle this with pointless words or our swords?" Li asked as he shifted into a stance. Yoksu chuckled as he snapped his nose back in place.

"Alright then. Shall we continue?"

"You bet." With that the fight continued.

Li charged in and attacked with a fast downward strike that Yoksu easily blocked with an overhead block. The master knocked away the sword and jabbed Li in his stomach with his hilt. When he hunched over Yoksu attacked with a beheading downward strike. Li swiftly bent his upper body back and gave the older man a hard kick to his ribs breaking two.

As Yoksu slid across the ground, he managed to flip himself back to his feet, just as Li came in for a thrust. The master knocked the attack upwards and took the opportunity to go for the younger man's head. Li quickly ducked and went closer to the old man. Seeing his intentions, Yoksu quickly jumped back just as Li attacked with a fast upward strike that would have killed him.

"So you're the one who injured Karibe with an attack like that, and the one who injured Gorkyu. I knew that the one who defeated them couldn't come from those Katsujin-ken weaklings."

"What make the Katsujin-ken school weak?"

"Well it's obvious. They are idealistic children. Sword that can give life, don't make me life. A sword is weapon to kill, that's all."

"True. But what it does ultimately depends on the user. A sword is an object and can't give or take anything away on its own." Li smirked as he continued. "Then again, I have said all this Kotaro before."

"Spreading the old man's idealistic shit to another generation?"

"Like I said, it's a favor for the old man." Yoksu just rolled his eyes.

"Well moving that aside, I'd like to kill you and get on to ruling this town."

"That is if I don't kill you first!" Li declared and rushed towards the Master.

"Bring it on kid!"

OOOOO

"Kero-chan, Tomoyo-chan, hurry!" Sakura yelled as she ran along side the flying beast, looking over her shoulder for their pursuer.

She had sensed Shaku coming after them after he took his first three steps of the chase. Sakura wasn't sure when or how she able to sense him from so far away. They had at least a couple miles of a head start of him, and she was still able so sense him. But then again, their purser didn't bother trying masking his fighting energy. Tomoyo had shifted the still shocked Kotaro onto Kero's back while she jumped off to take on Shaku. She wasn't planning on winning, just to stall him long enough so that Tomoyo and Kotaro can escape and get some help from the dojo.

"Sakura-chan, are you sure about this?" Tomoyo asked worriedly. Sakura nodded as she grabbed a twig, quickly transforming it into her staff.

"Just get Kotaro-kun out of here. Fly fast to the town Kero-chan," Sakura ordered. "Head for the dojo and get some help, got it?" the beast nodded.

"Got it. Be careful," Kero said as he increased his speed.

"Right." As the trio flew off, Sakura's soon-to-be opponent stopped his pursuit. The tall blonde smirked as he fingered his hip swords.

"So little girl, I'm assuming your opponent," he chuckled. Sakura nodded as she spun her staff around.

"That's right." Shaku just laughed as he drew his two hip swords. Sakura narrowed her eyes. They looked like normal Samurai swords to the normal eye, but the powerful aura she was sensing from both of them told her otherwise.

"I don't usually fight girls since they're weak and get scared easily, but I can tell from the look in your eyes, this is going to be fun!" Sakura gulped silently as she gripped her staff tighter. There was no telling what this guy was capable of, and he could do anything with the swords he drew from what she sensed from the aura. Her eyes shifted to behind her as she contemplated the idea of running away.

She quickly shook off that thought and slid her foot back. She would stay and fight, at least until Kero and the others came back with help.

"What's the matter girly? Too scared to make a move?" her opponent chuckled.

Sakura's reply was a loud yell and a charge.

The fight began with Sakura attacking with a fast overhead strike, and Shaku blocking it like it was nothing with his two swords.

"Bad move," he chuckled. With a swing from his right sword, Sakura was hurled back ten feet by a strong force. She quickly got to her feet, but was blown back to the ground by the same force. Not sure what else to do, Sakura charged in again. Shaku blocked her strike with his right sword and countered with a slash to her stomach with his left sword. Sakura quickly back flipped away from the incoming weapon and made sure she landed a good distance away from the swordsman.

An odd warm feeling on her stomach made her look down. When she did, she saw a thin cut along her stomach, which made her raise an eyebrow.

'How did it cut me? I know dodged his attack for sure,' she thought.

"Problem honey? You aren't mad because I tore your favorite outfit are you?" Sakura slid her foot back and charged again. She attacked this time with a series of fast slashes, but they weren't fast enough to catch Shaku off guard. The blonde easily blocked her attacks and gave her a swift boot to her stomach, knocking her back.

Sakura quickly got to her feet and fired a gust of wind towards her opponent, who just smirked. Shaku raised his left sword and sliced through the incoming attack, splitting it in half.

"What the-!" Sakura exclaimed, but before she could say anymore, the same force from before blasted her back.

"You might as well give up," Shaku chuckled as he walked towards her. "A little brat like you is clearly no match for me."

"I'm not finished yet!" Sakura declared and slammed her staff on the ground. The action rewarded her with her wind causing a thin but effective covering of dust and dirt, which was enough to obscure her opponent's vision for the time being. Sakura quickly moved through the small dust cloud until she was behind Shaku. She gulped silently before charging with an overhead slash ready. But before she could even think about completing her attack, Shaku whirled around and blasted her back with his right sword.

"How pathetically predictable," he chuckled. And with a wave with his right sword again, the dust cloud was blown away. "Any other little tricks you'd like to try?"

Sakura took this chance to fire four blasts of wind, and needless to say, Shaku wasn't impressed.

"If that's the best you can do," he said as he began slicing through the incoming blasts with his left sword. "Then you should just let me kill you right now!" The tall blonde sliced through the final blast, but right behind it was Sakura with her staff over her head, ready to bring it down with a yell. Shaku quickly blocked the attack with his right sword and easily pushed the girl off, sending her flying back by the same force.

'This is bad,' Sakura thought. 'I can't even get close to landing an attack on this guy. And whenever I get close her blows me away with that right sword. What do I do?'

"As much fun this has been, I do have orders. So I'm going to have to kill you now and go after your little friends. So thanks for the fun. Goodbye!" With that, before Sakura even had a chance to put her guard up, Shaku was only a few inches away from her, and attacked with both his swords.

Sakura cried out as she was both blown back and cut up at the same time. When he hit the ground, her body was covered with cuts, they weren't very deep, but they were enough to cause her trouble standing. The blonde scoffed when he saw his young opponent get to her feet.

"Damn, must have held back too much. Oh well. I'll get her on this next one."

'There has to be something I can do. Something about his swords I can use.' Sakura thought hard about the fight so far in an attempt to think of some way to counter. 'Wait a second, his right sword. I'm not sure what it is, but it uses some type of wind. What did Li say about facing your own element?'

Flashback 

It was while they were still in the forest. Sakura was in a defensive stance while Li reached into his robes to pull out one of his talismans.

"When facing your own element, you should feel some type of relief. Your opponent may use a different technique or a different variation, but ultimately, the element is still the same. Because of this, it makes countering much easier. Now I want you to counter this. Element, Wind!"

At that moment, a strong blast of wind shot out of the talisman and headed straight for Sakura, who on impulse thrust out her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. When she didn't feel the blast hit her, she opened her eyes and saw she had stopped it mid-flight.

End Flashback 

'If I'm right this may turn things in my favor.' The young girl dropped her staff and positioned herself as if she was about stop a soccer ball. Shaku raised an eyebrow, but just laughed it off.

"I don't know what you're doing, but whatever the hell it is, it isn't going to help!" With that he swung both swords, a blast that was even stronger than the last one. Sakura took a deep breath and once the blast was close enough, she thrust out her hands.

She felt like she was trying to stop a cannonball.

The blast was so strong it caused her to slid across the ground while she held it. The young girl winced as she felt it cut up her palms, but she still held on. Sakura dug her foot into the ground to stop herself from going any further. Once she felt herself stop she whirled around and fired the blast back to its shocked sender.

Shaku was hurled back ten feet by his own attack and his swords were blown away the second he let go of them. When he slammed against the ground the top part of his gi was gone to reveal the many cuts he had gotten from the attack. But rather than be furious, he just laughed.

"Looks like I'll have to be serious with you," he said as he drew the two swords on his back. Sakura quickly picked up her staff when she realized that these two were even stronger than the last two.

"Just what are those swords?" she asked finally.

"They are made from a special demon metal. They each have a special ability. The two I had before, the left one had the power to slice through anything even parts of the air. And the right one I could blast through anything with a powerful wind."

"And those you have now?" Shaku just laughed as he went into a stance.

"You'll just have to figure that out for yourself."

OOOOO

For the most part the ride towards town was silent, except for Kero ranting that he wanted chocolate after this was over. Tomoyo looked over to Kotaro was deathly silent and looking of into space. That was understandable, he did just see his father die right before his eyes. When they were close to the town, Kotaro suddenly said,

"We have to go back."

"What did you say!" Kero exclaimed in disbelief. "We're practically there!"

"I'm not going to let a bunch of strangers get revenge for me, I'm not that pathetic. And besides I refuse to run along the sidelines like some kid!"

"News flash kid, you are a kid!" Kero said. "You'd be practically useless." Kotaro growled and gripped Kero's fur in a tight grip, which caused growls of protest from the beast.

"Kotaro-kun," Tomoyo said gently. "What Kero-chan is trying to stay is leave it to Sakura and Li. They have their mission, and we have ours, which is to get help if they can't handle it. Okay?"

"No! I'm the son of Juruka, and heir to the Katsujin-ken school! I can't let someone else finish the job my father tried so hard to end. This is my duty. I have been so caught up in myself and revenge that I couldn't see what I had to do." Kotaro looked down wistfully before bring back up his head with a fire in his eyes. "But I get it now. So we have to go back."

"Are you nuts kid! You don't stand a chance!" Kero exclaimed.

"Kero-chan," Tomoyo said. "Do as he says."

"What! You too Tomoyo!" When the girl nodded the beast let out a loud groan before turning around.

"I want ten pounds worth of sweets now!"

OOOOO

Li grunted as he jumped away from a fast downward attack, and countered with a thrust. Yoksu knocked the incoming attack away and gave the young man a strong jab to his stomach. As he staggered back the master charged in with a series of fast slashes. Li swiftly dodged most of them, and blocked an incoming one to his neck. When the master froze in a second of shock, the green clad swordsman spun into a horizontal slash across his stomach. Yoksu jumped away from the young man and began to chuckle as he held his new wound.

"Your good kid, really good. I can tell I won't be able to finish this the normal way or with normal techniques. So I'll just have to use my trump card." Li raised an eyebrow at this.

"What are you talking about?" Yoksu chuckled as he went into a stance.

"You'll see." The Master then began to sway his body like he was a leaf in the wind, mumbling something that Li couldn't make out. The amber-eyed swordsman raised his eyebrow after this went on for two minutes. Li was about to attack when he thought he saw two other Yokus. The young man quickly shook his head ridding himself of that hallucination.

When he regained his senses, he managed to catch Yoksu charging at him with no attack or guard ready at all. Not ready to let a chance like this go, Li brought down his sword into a fierce slash. But his sword passed through a transparent image of his opponent. Before Li had the chance to locate his opponent, his back was slashed open by the older master.

The young man whirled around to slash the older man behind him, only to have his sword pass through another transparent image. He was ready this time. The second he realized it was only an image he shot up his foot into a kick, but it only hit empty air. Li turned to see if he had missed, only to have his stomach wound worsen by another slash. Li winced and quickly jumped back to see Yoksu stand a couple feet in front of him with a smug smirk on his face.

"What's wrong kid? You had such fire before." With that Yoksu charged again. Li instantly readied himself for whatever was coming.

But what he wasn't prepared for was Yoksu passing through him like a ghost.

"What the hell!" Li whirled around and saw sliver coming down towards his head. The young man dove forward, avoiding a fatal blow by a margin.

Li quickly got on his feet and charged towards the master, who put up no guard whatsoever. But Yoksu did begin to sway like he was earlier. Li attacked with a fast diagonal slash only to have it pass through another transparent image. Li growled and tried again, since he didn't feel an attack from behind him. But his attacks kept going through Yoksu like he was a ghost. The master kept his smirk as he watched the frustrated young man keep trying to land an attack on him.

After having a horizontal slash pass through him, Yoksu went on the attack. He raised his sword in a position that showed he was going for a horizontal slash to slice the young man in half. Li instantly put up his guard. But as he watched the sword make its way, it suddenly vanished. An instant later, Li's chest was sliced open and he knocked to the ground with a fierce kick.

"What the hell is going on?" he growled as he struggled to his feet. Yoksu smirked as he walked towards the young man.

"This is the Satujin-ken special sword form: The Ghost Sword of Death. And you dear boy, are about to become a ghost."

OOOOO

Sakura tightened her grip on her staff as she watched Shaku lower himself into a stance. She wasn't sure what powers these new swords had, but from the powerful aura she was sensing from them, she could tell they were stronger than his last two. Knowing she wouldn't find out anything from just standing there, the young girl dashed towards her opponent.

"Bad move once again girly," Shaku declared as he swung his left sword. The ground was split apart like something was moving through it like a snake. Sakura quickly jumped to the side, only to have her leg get cut. The girl continued her charge, and attacked with an overhead attack once she was close enough. Shaku brought up his right sword and an extremely loud CLANG reached her ears.

The sound was so loud Sakura dropped her staff to cover her ears as she stumbled back. The sound kept echoing inside her head, so much so that she couldn't even stand up straight. She stumbled to the ground with her hand still on her ears, which made her an easy target.

With another swing of his left sword, the ground was sliced up again and the attack was heading straight for Sakura. The young girl was hurled back with a deep upward gash starting from the top of her kneecap to the bottom of her chest.

"That'll teach you to crumble in the middle of a fight," Shaku chuckled as he walked towards her. For the most part the loud sound she kept hearing was gone, not completely, just enough so that she could at least stand. Sakura looked over Shaku's shoulder and saw her staff. She knew she needed it to stand at least some chance. The tall blonde kept walking towards her with a smirk on his face. Sakura thrust out her palm shooting a powerful gust of wind, which caused the blonde to cover himself to keep from being blown away. Seeing this chance, Sakura dove in between his legs and grabbed her staff.

Shaku turned around, only to be met with another gust of wind. Once he covered himself, Sakura charged in with a fast slash. But much to her dismay, Shaku blocked it with his right sword causing another CLANG to echo through her ears. Sakura winced, but refused to cover her ears even as she stumbled back.

Shaku smirked as he charged at the still stumbling girl. He raised his right sword and attacked. Sakura instantly blocked, but the same loud noise reached her ears again. The blonde laughed as he made his right sword hit against Sakura's staff again, and, again, and again until the young girl cried out in pain from all the loud noise and fell back.

"What's the matter?" Shaku laughed. "Having trouble standing!" Even when he laughed at the top of his lungs, Sakura could only barely hear him. "Can you hear me?" Shaku laughed mockingly. Sakura tried to get up, but her feet wouldn't listen to her.

"Just what do those swords do?" she asked weakly, surprised she even hear her own voice. "What did you do to me?"

"In case you didn't notice by now, my right sword amplifies any and all sound that it is hit against, and I can control where it goes."

"So by hitting your sword against my staff, that was your way of attacking?" Sakura asked.

"You got that right honey. And because of all the loud sound, the part of your ear that balances your body is completely shot. Which makes you an extremely easy target for my favorite sword." With that Shaku's right sword began to glow, and the blade began to extend and bend like a whip. "I think this ability speaks for itself."

'He's too strong,' Sakura thought as she struggled to get to her feet, but to no avail.

"This fight is over!" Shaku declared as he swung his left sword."

OOOOO

Li managed to block Yoksu's downward block, and pushed the sword away. The young man countered with a fast slash, only to have it pass through yet another transparent image. The green-clad warrior was met with four shallow, but effective stabs in his chest. As he took a step back, Yoksu kicked him to the ground.

"Give up kid! You can't be the Ghost Sword of Death. Just accept your fate."

"Damn it," Li muttered as he sat up. 'How to I bet this guy?' The young man closed his eyes to replay the entire fight in his head. But he couldn't really concentrate because he smelled something in the air. Li raised his eyebrows but kept his eyes closed. In front of him was Yoksu's aura with some sort of yellow powder flying off him. Li snapped open his eyes and stood up.

"One last stand I see. Very well, at least you'll die like a Samurai then." Li went into a stance with his hand over his sword, and closed his eyes.

'That's it, that weird powder was on his clothes and he spread it around by that swaying earlier. That powder must affect someone's vision. That explains everything! It may look like he's like a ghost, but he's really moving while the image created by the powder distracts me. So if I keep my eyes closed I won't be effected.'

"Let's finish this!" Yoksu exclaimed and charged. Li kept his eyes closed as he charged as well. The two passed each other with loud SWISH, and all was still.

"Game….Over…" Li declared and Yoksu collapsed with an explosion of blood.

OOOOO

Sakura had shut her eyes when she saw Shaku swing his sword. But when she didn't feel anything but flowing air she opened her eyes. She found herself on Kero's back with Tomoyo asking her if she was okay.

"Oh thank goodness your awake!" she sighed happily. "Are you all right Sakura-chan?"

"Having trouble I see," Kero said as he dodged Shaku's blade whip.

"That's understandable," Kotaro said. "Shaku is one of the top three in Satujin-ken. He's at the top. Karibe is second and Gorkyu is third."

"There has to be some way to beat him. One of his swords is like a whip, while the other can amplify the sound. So if I dodge the whip and attack, I'll still get hurt. What do I do?" Sakura wondered out loud. Tomoyo thought for a minute before saying,

"Why not take away the air?"

"Huh?" was what she got from her three comrades.

"It's simple Sakura-chan. You pretty much control the air right? And sound travels through air right? So if you get rid of the air there won't be any sound."

"How do I do that?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Tomoyo said cheerfully. Sakura thought for a minute before jumping off Kero.

"I'm ready to finish this Shaku!" Sakura declared. Shaku just laughed.

"So am I girly! I'm ready to kill you!" With that Shaku swung his right sword, sending the whip towards the young girl, who quickly dodged it. The whip suddenly curved and came her way again. Sakura put out her staff and allowed the whip to wrap around it. Shaku raised an eyebrow when Sakura began to twirl the staff around. His unasked question was answered when a tornado like wind came from the staff blowing him back, letting go of his sword in the process.

Shaku got up and saw Sakura charging towards him again. The blonde raised his only sword to defend with a smirk. But Sakura was smirking two. The instant before her staff hit his sword, Sakura took deep breath through her mouth, sucking up the air in front of her like a vacuum. When she didn't hear the loud clang at all, she knew she had sucked up the sound as well, and jumped back.

"What-the! What the hell did you do?" Sakura just smiled before blowing back all the air she had sucked up before including the sound. Shaku cried out in pain as he felt the effects of his own sword back at him.

"Like you said, this fight is over!" Sakura declared and swung her staff like a bat with all her might sending out an extremely powerful wind. This time, Shaku couldn't resist and became nothing but a dot in the sky as the current swept him away.

"Nice job Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo declared.

"Awesome!" Kero said. Kotaro was in a state of shock. A young girl had defeated Shaku, the top student at Satujin-ken.

"Now let's go help the kid," Kero said. Sakura hopped on and they flew to where they left their friend.

OOOOO

Kotaro's state of shock only increased when he saw Li sitting with Yoksu's corpse right next to him. While he did look pretty beat, he still managed to kill the one person the people in his town feared the most, the one not even his father could defeat. Who were these people?

"Why Li, he did a number on you," Sakura said as she looked him over. Li just scoffed.

"You don't look a princess yourself. More like a peasant." Sakura just smiled.

"Yeah it took me a while but I beat him." Kotaro looked over to Yoksu and saw his chest was rising, only slightly though.

"He's still alive," the young man growled. He marched over to the master, grabbed his sword and was prepared to slice off his head. But he couldn't bring himself to complete the action.

"What's the matter? This is the guy who killed your dad and caused all that suffering in the town right? Why not kill him?" Li asked. Kotaro stepped back and dropped the sword.

"Because, the sword of revenge does not belong in the Katsujin-ken school," Kotaro replied slowly.

"Looks like he gets it," Li declared with a scoff. Sakura and Tomoyo smiled at him.

"That's great Kotaro-kun. Now you can inherit the dojo now right?" Tomoyo asked. Kotaro nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm going to make it better and stronger than before! My dad did his duty, now it's time for me to do mine!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now let's get our supplies and get the hell out of here. We've already stayed here a hell of a lot longer than I would have liked," Li said as he got up.

"Not until I get my chocolate!" Kero exclaimed.

"What the hell did you do! Besides being a big stuffed transportation animal!"

"What did I tell you about those stuffed animal remarks kid!"

"And what are you going to do about it you worthless beast!" Kotaro chuckled as he listened to them. He finally understood what his father had been trying to tell him all these years. While it did cost him his life, Kotaro knew as long as he stayed true to what his father stood for he would always be with him. And that overpowered the sadness any day.

OOOOO

The small group spent another day in the town. To attend Juruka's funeral, get supplies and medicine. The Satujin-ken school was forced to close its doors, and Tskiu took over the dojo until Kotaro was old enough. Kotaro made sure he was there to see off the people who made him understand everything.

"Good luck on your journey," he said.

"Thanks!" Sakura and Tomoyo replied in unison.

"Just make sure when another crazy school tries to take over you can handle it yourself," Li scoffed.

"I never got my chocolate!"

"Shut up!"

AN: GOD! I thought I would never finish this chapter or this arc! But thank god I finally did! It was taking forever! Mostly because I had trouble coming up with Shaku's swords' abilities, and I had trouble coming up with how Sakura could beat him. Not sure if the way she beat him if completely reasonable, but if it's not, hey the genre is fantasy for a reason. I'm glad the next chapter is a one-shot, which means it will be out quicker most likely. And I'm finally getting close to chapters 48-50, big, big stuff happen in those chapters. Anyway here's a preview for chapter 47.

_Kero: You better get your sea legs because next time we're going on a cruise! _

_Tomoyo: It's not really a cruise, more like a pirate ship, and we're using it to get to a new island! _

_Kero: New island! Awesome! But what a minute who's this chick named Remina anyway, and what's her deal with Sakura? Whoever she is, she's nothing compared to the great Keroberos! _

_Tomoyo: Sure. Be sure to tune in for "Attack: Mistress of Water Remina Appears!" Next Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!_


	47. Attack: Mistress of Water Remina Appears

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 47

Deep within the confides of his volcano fortress, Viga called for his two remaining conspirators and Mudo for a status report on the jewels, and the search for Mudo's comrades.

"How goes it?" the white haired leader asked softly, but coldly.

"We weren't able to locate any more of the jewels or any of Mudo comrades. It is close to impossible to locate the other jewels with the one we have," Magura reported. Remina just scowled as she unfolded her arms.

"This is all that damn Erim's fault. If he just went with taking the jewels from those stupid kids, finding the others would be a snap! Instead he went with his damn plans, that weren't even worth it!"

"Patience Remina," Viga chuckled as he stood. "I except as much from Syaoran. He isn't the type to simply give up what he's worked for. The jewels are exceptions. But I believe we can benefit from this."

"How so?" Remina asked.

"We were able to see just how much stronger our little targets have gotten, and can plan an attack accordingly." The blue-haired demon mistress let out a frustrated yell.

"I'm tired of all this damn planning an calculating! All we need is to take the damn jewels from the little bastards and be done with it! Then we can increase our collection, and finding the others will be a piece of cake!"

"Are you volunteering Remina?" Viga asked. The demon mistress thought for minute before responding.

"Yes. Yes I am. I'll show all of you that you don't need any stupid plans to get what you want. Now all need to know is where they are! It'll be a snap!" Viga chuckled before showing their location in a crystal ball he had.

"That's where they are. I imagine they'll be taking a sea route to get to another island." Remina just smirked as she walked out.

"That's all I needed."

"Have fun."

OOOOO

"Hoeeee!" Sakura squealed as she stared out at the vast ocean in front of her. The group had stopped at a town next to the ocean. The town itself was very small, and seemed to be littered with bars, prostitution houses, which seemed to be in use even during mid-afternoon, markets, and weapons shops. Tomoyo figured it was mostly for the sailors that would arrive at this town, and would be wearily from their voyages. Once they reached the town, Sakura's eyes went as wide as saucers when she saw the vast ocean in front of her. She instantly ran out to the docks to get a better view. Li rolled his at her antics as he asked an old man nearby for a ship.

"What do we need a ship for? Are we going somewhere?" Tomoyo asked when she heard his question.

"We're going to see a friend of mine," Li replied. Tomoyo instantly noticed at how bitterly he said friend. "I don't _want_ to see him, but I _have_ to." Tomoyo was about to ask why, but figured she wouldn't get a straight answer from him anyway, so she held her tongue and went back to Sakura.

"So old man, can you help us?" he asked the old man, who took a deep gulp of his liquor.

"Depends on which island you're heading too son," the old man replied.

"One of the main islands I guess." The alcohol-drinking senior just laughed and took another gulp.

"Then you're out of luck sonny boy. Sailors ain't heading that way no more!" Li raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" This was odd. Why would sailors stop heading to the main islands? That was where they received the most profitable merchandise, and where the best supplies were.

"Too many boats sinking on the way there they say. They say it's monsters or demons, or whatever. You might as well find another way there. I hear of a town that gives dragon rides."

Li let out a scowl. He had heard of that town as well, but it was practically on the other side of the land. It would take them weeks to get there. He knew his little _friend _wouldn't stay in one place for that long. He needed to get to him in a couple of days. Especially before the full moon.

"There has to be someone," Li pushed the old man. The old man thought for a minute while taking another deep gulp of his liquor.

"Well, there's someone, but frankly, I don't think you kids would want to be associating with his type." The young man scowled at the senior's vague speech.

"Just tell me who it is, then I'll tell you if I want to be associating with him," he replied irritably. The old man just chuckled as he pointed over Li's shoulder.

"He'd be right over there, talking up your woman." Li turned around and let out another scowl either out of annoyance or anger, he wasn't sure. But sure enough, in front of Sakura was a tall man with red hair and black eyes. He wore a long black cloak that went down to his shoes and covered his black pants. He had a lustful smirk on his face as he held Sakura's hands as he talked to her.

Li growled as he made his way over to them. To be honest with himself, he wasn't sure why he was so mad already. It was probably because he remembered what happened the last time some random guy started to talk her up. He rolled his eyes at the memory, and decided to end this right now before it got out of hand.

"Hey!" he called.

"It figures," the young man sighed. "The cute ones always have lovers." Li just rolled his eyes and glared as his response. There was no need to waste his breath yelling. "Hey, hey, if it's any constellation to you, I was just telling her how cute she is? Is that a crime suddenly?"

"They tell me you are the only one willing to go to the main island. Is that true?" Li asked ignoring the former subject all together.

"Oh?" the young man said as he lit a cigarette. "And just who's 'they?'" Li pointed to the liquor drinking old man.

"Hey there Cap'n!" the old man greeted.

"You trying to fill my ship with freeloading stowaways again old timer?" The senior just laughed whole heartedly as he took another gulp.

"Hey, at least there are two cute girls!"

"Yeah. That makes up everything," the so-called captain sighed as he ruffled his hair. "But still there are only two. For me to forgive you there has to be at least five!"

"Now, now, Cap'n, you were telling me how you needed some more hands on your ship anyways. I was just merely trying to help."

"You could have at least asked me!"

"Here's an idea. See what the crew thinks of them, and make them prove themselves! If they pass your tests then you let them aboard!"

"Since when did you care so much about who I take on my ship?" The old man shrugged.

"It gives me something to watch." The captain turned to the small group, who was waiting for his approval. The young man and said,

"Fine. Follow me. But be forewarned. As you are about to come aboard the pirate ship of the infamous CAPTAIN GEN TSKIRU!" he yelled dramatically, only to be met with blank stares from his little audience.

"Who?" they asked in unison, making the captain fall over.

OOOOO

The ship itself didn't seem to stand out too much. It seemed like an ordinary ship in Sakura's eyes. It didn't even have the traditional skull and crossbones flag that Sakura thought was on every pirate ship. But what really had her nervous, was all the rough and scary looking pirates about. They were all armed with swords, knives, and guns. And each of them all had at least one or two scars on their face, and many more on their chests and backs. It didn't help her much either that they were all staring at her and Tomoyo with a weird look in their eyes.

"Uh…Tomoyo-chan," she whispered. "They all staring us."

"Well, you are a cute girl after all Sakura-chan," her friend replied with a giggle, which didn't help her at all. They followed Gen to the helm of the ship, which was also was the most elevated part on the deck. Gen called his pirates to attention just by standing on it.

"Now my crew. We have some newcomers that wish to join us on our voyage to the mainland. What do you think? Take 'em or drown 'em!" The pirate crew replied with yells that Sakura couldn't make out, but it didn't make her feel anymore comfortable.

"Li," she whispered. "Are you sure about this?"

"What other choice do we have?" he replied simply. The yells from the pirates ceased when Gen called for silence.

"How about we make them show how sea worthy they are! How would you like a contest!" there was a whirlwind of positive yells. Gen chuckled and turned to their guests. "Well you heard 'em. Looks like you'll have to prove yourselves."

"How?" Li asked.

"It's simple," Gen said as he reached into his cloak carefully. Li's hand instantly went to his sword, and his eyes narrowed when the pirate's hand began to come out. But what had him nearly fall over was what he pulled out, a deck of cards.

"The name of the game is Poker!"

"Say what!" Gen just laughed and put an arm around Li's shoulder playfully.

"Like I said simple! All you have to do is beat my men and I in a game of a pirate's favorite pastime Poker! Then we'll take you anywhere you want." When he saw Li's stoic expression he just laughed. "You gotta learn to relax kid! What did you expect, a huge fight for your right to board! HA, I'd rather play Poker than fight any day. Now which one of you is going to play?"

Li raised an eyebrow. He couldn't play, because in all honestly he hadn't even heard of the game. And from Sakura's confused expression she was just as clueless as he was. Which only left them either Kero or Tomoyo.

"I'll play," Tomoyo announced, which caused laughter amongst the pirates.

"You play! You really expect to win!"

"Hey maybe we can play strip poker eh Cap'n!"

"Tomoyo-chan, are you sure? I mean, do you even know how to play?" Sakura asked worriedly. Tomoyo just smiled at her.

"I know the basics at least. That should get us somewhere."

Despite the roaring laughter, Tomoyo kept up her sweet smile, and sat at the brought out table.

"Hey girl I'll even let you look at my cards a little, to at least give you a slight chance!" Once the cards were all passed out, the game began.

Twenty minutes later

The pirates were standing with their jaws practically touching the floor, completely naked, and without any of their weapons. In front of them was Tomoyo with that same smile on her face, and an extremely large pile of their belonging in front of her. The only thing she lost were her shoes, socks, and her hair ribbon. As it turned out, she knew a lot more than just the basics, so much more. She was able to read through the most stern of Poker faces and bet, bluff, and fold accordingly. At first the pirates just let her win for three rounds, but when they found that they were rapidly losing their valuables they decided to play seriously, but that didn't help against Tomoyo. Many pirates practically threw themselves overboard, after suffering such a humiliating defeat in Poker, at the hands of a teenaged girl!

"Care to play again?" she asked sweetly as she began shuffle the card with expert precision and speed. "I'm sure you'll win everything back in no time."

"Where did she learn to play like that?" Li asked Sakura trying to hold in his surprise.

"I have no idea." Needless to say, their ticket to the mainland was sold, and they wouldn't be going there completely broke either.

OOOOO

Remina let out a groan as she sat on an island in the middle of nowhere. It was her little getaway spot from Viga, and she came here whenever she wanted to escape the stress. But it seemed to follow her wherever she went. Syaoran's group was much harder to track than she thought. And it also turns out, Viga's little crystal ball wasn't as accurate as she thought either.

She had arrived at the position only to find that they had already left that area, and were now out at sea. Now while the sea was her domain and command area, it was so vast it was nearly impossible to find anything or anyone out there. So she had her demons do the looking for her. But they were taking so long, she had been here practically all day. She groaned as she looked at the setting sun. Well, she figured, at least it allowed her to get out of that stuffy castle.

Her attention was caught when a water snake demons came out of the water.

"We found them mistress. They are on Captain Gen Tskiru's ship."

"Gen Tskiru?" she repeated, then let out a smirk. "This will be fun after all."

OOOOO

Li let out a sigh as he stood out on the deck that night. It had taken a while, but he was finally on his way to the main land. He had hoped his _friend_ was still there. He thought bitterly about how the reunion would go. Knowing him, he probably greet him with a trick or some kind of illusion. He let out another sigh and asked himself, how in the world did befriend such a mischievous person. It was always a handful when his tricks got out of hand, or the illusions became too real. He chuckled when he remembered one of his little practical jokes almost killed him. He paid him back though, with about sixteen punches to his head.

A loud noise from below deck caught his attention. He let out an annoyed grunt and looked up at the star-lit sky. Below him, the pirates were having a huge party. Celebrating what, he had no idea. Probably their new temporary shipmates he figured. Before he came up he saw Tomoyo teaching them different Poker techniques and how to read your opponents. He couldn't help but let out another chuckle. You really had to swallow your pried to take advice from a teenaged girl about game you thought you knew everything about.

As he looked at the bright stared sky, his eyes fell on the almost full moon. He hoped that this full moon wouldn't cause as much trouble as the last one did. The last time was real mess. Never did he feel so useless and weak, and he didn't want to feel that way again.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Sakura's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned to the girl who was now standing next to him on deck. "The moon. It's beautiful isn't it?"

"Who can say," he scoffed. "I'm not a big fan of the moon." Sakura was about to ask why, when she giggled as if remembering something.

"Oh, now I remember, you lose your powers when the moon is full."

"Hey! Don't go blabbing out someone's weakness out loud! Especially on a pirate ship!" This only caused Sakura to laugh completely.

"They aren't all that bad." It was Li's turn to chuckle.

"This from the girl who was practically cowering when we first got here?"

"Can you blame me? They were so scary looking!"

"That proves how much of a scardy cat you are."

"I am not!" she exclaimed with a pout on her face, that Li had to admit was kind of cute, but he shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts.

"What are you doing out here anyway? Weren't you below deck partying with the others?"

"Well I was, but I decided I needed a breath of fresh air. Right now, they're having a drinking contest. And it turns out; Kero-chan can really hold his liquor. He out drank seven people by the time I decided to come up." Li looked at her with a blatant, 'Are you serious?' look that Sakura couldn't help but giggle at. He could say so much with just his eyes alone.

She had to admit, she liked his eyes, they gave him a wild exotic look that she didn't see in other people. But it wasn't only that, but they were so intense and filled with fire that Sakura could feel her temperature rising every time she looked at them directly, especially around her face. She often wondered why.

She also had to admit that before, she was scared and intimidated by his eyes. They were just filled with anger, bitterness, and hate that Sakura felt suffocated just being around him. Every look he threw her way was enough to get her entire body shaking in fear. She often wondered before if he was going to kill her and Tomoyo in their sleep. But now she thought that his eyes were clearly his best trait, and wondered if all the feelings she felt from him before were just stemmed from loneliness. From what Sakura could gather, despite having four sisters and a mother, Li was a very lonely person for some reason or another. She wanted to know why, but it was obvious he would never give her a straight answer, so she needed to figure it out for herself.

"Always thought that stuffed animal could be drunk," he muttered, which caused another laugh from Sakura. Her laughter for some reason or another seemed to cause a shiver up Li's spine. And what confused and annoyed him was, it wasn't a bad feeling like he was sensing a powerful aura, it just felt strangely good, calming in fact. He shook his head again, what the hell was wrong with him.

He turned his head away from her and a silence passed over them for a while. They were both lost in their own thoughts when Sakura let out a sigh and rested both her elbows on the railing.

"I just can't get over how massive the sea is," she sighed.

"You really haven't seen the ocean before? Boy are you deprived."

"Hey, my town was pretty far from the ocean remember. But my mom did take us to the lake from time to time, at least that what my brother tells me."

"You can't remember?" Sakura shook her head.

"I want to so bad, but I just can't. I want to remember her holding me, smiling at me. I want know what her voice sounded like, I want to at least know for sure I had a mother at least," she said softly.

"Don't let it bother you. I can't remember my father either. So don't feel to bad," he replied not looking at her.

"Oh," she sighed. "Feel that breeze." Li looked over to her and saw with her eyes closed, and her hair flowing in the breeze as if she was in the most peaceful place on Earth. He watched as she ran a hand through her flowing hair with that peaceful expression on her face. And for the first time, rather than seeing a ghost of a memory in her, he just saw her.

He watched as the strands of her hair flowed through the moving air like fishes in water, and how each strand seemed to flow a different way than another. Her breathing became slow and gentle, and she had such a look of quiet contentment and peace that Li couldn't tear away his eyes. When the wind passed, and her hair became still, the young man practically beat his head on the railing. How could he become entranced because of something so trifle and stupid, he yelled at himself. He had every right to hurl the girl in the ocean and save himself from such foolishness in the future, but a part of him knew he would never do it. So instead, he decided to walk away.

"Good night," he muttered quickly. 'Damn moon,' he thought. 'Taking my sanity as well as my powers.' Sakura, who was taken by surprise by his sudden dismissing phrase, turned to wish him a good night as well when the boat suddenly shook. Sakura held tightly to the railing to keep herself from falling overboard. The ship kept shaking as if it was in a massive storm, but the sky and waters were clear. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut on impulse, and couldn't help but keep them closed.

When the shaking did stop, she opened her eyes to find the sudden shaking had attracted Captain Gen, the entire crew, a clearly drunk Kero, and a very glamorous looking Tomoyo, who was practically covered head to toe with gold from the pirates.

Sakura's attention was caught from a very snobbish laugh from the water. She turned and saw Li looking very tense with his sword drawn and eyes glued to the water. Sakura looked out to the water, and saw a deep blue haired woman standing on top of the water's surface as if it was solid land. She wore a graceful looking dress that stopped at her ankles to reveal her blue painted toenails that matched her fingernails. The odd woman wore three blue bracelets on each wrist, and a ring on her left. Despite her blue attire, she had deep red eyes that looked at the members of the ship with a smug look on her face.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Captain Gen and his loser crew, and Syaoran-kun and his little friends. This is turning out to be quite the night indeed. I get to kill off two great nuisances at once and get four of the seven deadly jewels, this is great!"

"Remina," Gen scoffed. "Why am I not surprised to see you here at all?"

"We must be losing the passion in our little relationship."

"I was never good at long term relationships anyway," Gen replied with a shrug.

"You know her?" Tomoyo asked the Captain, who just shrugged again.

"I guess so. She's always getting in my way on voyages, saying I'm trespassing on her seas or something like that. But yeah, we've had our run ins before." Remina just giggled.

"Yes we have. But I'm sorry to say that this time, will be our last time together." With a snap of her fingers, countless snake like demons and monsters arose from the water surrounding their mistress as they took to the sky.

"Great," Gen groaned when he saw the now demon covered sky. "Well at least it'll give us some after dinner exercise. Men! To your battle stations!"

"Attack!" Remina ordered, sending the horde of countless demons charging towards the one boat. Within moments the sky was filled with cannon fire and demons being torn apart by them. Those who did manage to get close, were instantly blown to pieces by Li's lighting attacks. And the pirates not manning the cannons, quickly cut the few who did manage to dodge the lighting.

Remina giggled as she watched her horde being ripped apart. She had a feeling they wouldn't enough so when the horde was dropped to a small 50, Remina snapped her fingers. Within seconds the boat was completely surrounded by hundreds of demons whales.

"What-the! Where did these come from!" Gen exclaimed looking around his ship.

"Just a few little friends I called for the occasion. Oh and to keep things a little more interesting," the water mistress snapped her fingers again, causing four powerful whirlpools to form around the ship. "Let's see you get out of this!"

The ship rumbled like in the middle of an extremely powerful Earthquake as it was rammed on one side by powerful demon whales and around it, the whirlpools were tearing it apart piece by piece. The crew hurried throughout the ship, trying to keep it together, but it was impossible for them to keep up with the powerful whirlpools. The demon whales kept pounding on the already weakening ship, the situation became even worse when the hull began to crack. Knowing the ship wouldn't last long, Sakura knew she had to do something. Thinking quickly, she whipped out her Watery card.

"Watery! Part these harsh waters!" she ordered. With the order in place, the sprit burst out of its object of confinement, and flew over the whirlpools. In an instant, the whirlpools were dispelled which solved one of the three dangers to the ship. But Sakura's usage of the water sprit, failed to not catch the attention of Remina.

"You have the water sprit!" she exclaimed excitedly. "This really is my night! Give it her girl!"

"Why would you want Watery? You already a demon of the water!" Remina just laughed.

"Do you have any idea how much that powerful sprit would increase my powers if it joined with me? I'd be the most powerful water demon ever! Now give it here!" By now the water mistress was standing on the railing on the ship and was nose to nose with Sakura.

"I said no!" Sakura yelled again. Li was too busy fighting the remaining demons on the ship, Kero was too drunk, and Tomoyo was helping the pirates below deck fix the hull, so Sakura was on her own.

"Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way. Although, I was hoping it would come to this anyway!" With that Remina thrust out her hands blasting a powerful jet stream of water that rammed Sakura to the other side of the ship. The young girl got to her feet and thrust out her hands, sending a powerful gust of wind to the water apparition. Remina was hurled off the ship and into the water, which she landed on like ground.

"Not bad. But try this!" Remina swung her arm, creating a giant wave that was enough to take the entire ship underwater.

"Watery! Part the wave!" The sprit quickly did as it was told, but the second the wave was parted; it revealed Remina airborne and heading straight for her. Sakura was nailed by a strong punch from her opponent and stumbled back. But Remina kept coming at her with punches. Sakura tried to block, but she couldn't keep up with the barrage of punches from Remina.

Sakura was backed into the railing of the ship, where Remina stopped her assault. The young girl opened her eyes to see what her opponent's next move was, only to be knocked off the ship by a powerful jet stream.

"That idiot!" Li growled and rushed over to the railing to jump after. But Remina had other plans. A jet stream, in the form of a hand grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Nope. Can't have you playing hero. Not when you're about to join her," the water mistress laughed. "You and this entire crew are about to join her." At that moment, the demon whales broke through the haul, making water flood the entire bottom part of the ship within a matter of seconds.

"Let go bitch!" Li growled as he reached for his lighting talisman.

"Bad idea. If you use that not only will you get shocked but this entire ship," Remina warned with a dark laugh. "The only thing you can do is die!" Li struggled to get free, but the grip was too strong.

"Damn it all!" he growled. Remina walked him towards the railing.

"Get ready to meet you're little girlfriend in hell!" The mistress was about to hurl the young man into the depths of the ocean when a tornado of water exploded out of the sea. Everyone watched in awe as the water tornado parted a very womanly looking Sakura standing a jet stream of water with Watery circling around her.

"Remina," she said coldly. "Your assault ends now." The water demon shook off her shock and dropped Li.

"We'll see about that!" With that she rocketed herself towards Sakura by shooting a jet stream of water from her feet. But Sakura calmly held out her palm and Watery flew to it and turned itself into a ball. The girl closed her palm and Watery became her staff, but instead of a curved blade, it became a trident.

"This ends now," she said simply, and with a simple wave of her new trident, Remina was hurled back into the water by her own element.

"Okay. Try this!" Remina thrust out both her hands, creating a powerful wave, enough to sink any major city, but Sakura's eyes expressed no fear. She took a deep breath and with a blow from her lips, sent the wave back to its sender. Remina struggled to the water's surface, completely shocked and confused.

"How the hell is this…. happening!" She looked over to Sakura, only to find her gone. Remina frantically looked to find her, but her silent question was answered when a cold voice whispered,

"It's over." Within seconds, Remina was sent hurling through the air until she was nothing but a dot in the sky. The demons, seeing their mistress completely defeated, fled. Sakura beckoned for the water to carry her back on deck, and with a snap of her fingers, all the water from below deck was flooded out and the hole was instantly fixed.

The white glow around her slowly faded away and Sakura returned to normal to find the entire crew staring at her with their mouths agape.

"What?" she asked innocently.

OOOOO

Viga chuckled as he watched the entire fight from his crystal ball. He already knew how easily Remina would be defeated, and hopefully this would teach her to think twice before blindly attacking her opponents, especially Syaoran and his little friends.

"That girl has quite the power," Mudo commented.

"Yes. She really is quite the interesting specimen."

OOOOO

It took only took another entire day for the ship to reach the mainland. With some convincing from Li and Tomoyo's part, mostly violent for Li, they managed to convince the pirates not to say anything about what they saw Sakura do. It didn't take long for them to forget anyway. It only took a few drinks and Tomoyo completely beating them at Poker again.

When they finally reached, Gen gave them a map of the mainland, which he assured, would come in handy later on.

"Just what he hell is that girl?" he whispered as he handed Li the map.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Li replied. Gen just nodded before breaking out in a grin.

"Well if you ever need a ship again you know who to call. And Tomoyo, we'll be sure to win back everything from you!"

"Just keep practicing," she replied with a smile.

"Now let's move out!" Li ordered and began walking.

"Right!" the girls replied.

"Arg!" Kero groaned as he clutched his head. "Would you guys keep it down! My head is killing me!"

"That's what you get for drinking so much you damn alcoholic stuffed animal!"

"You're lucky I have such a bad hangover otherwise I'd totally go full form on your ass!"

"I'd love to see you try!" Sakura and Tomoyo giggled, no matter where they were, they were sure those two would never change. And she was just fine with things staying like this for a while.

AN: I have to admit, this chapter isn't my best. Except for that scene between Li and Sakura, the whole thing just seems rushed, especially the fight with Remina. Originally, Sakura and Remina was supposed to have a very involved fight, but when I thought about it, I realized if I did it like that, I would have to extend this and push everything back. I swore to myself I would keep this a one chapter thing, so I had to cut it out. Sorry if you were expecting a fight like that, but I hope the fight I have is good enough. I don't know why I even bothered with having a fight this chapter anyway. This whole chapter was created solely for that scene between Li and Sakura. The scene was mostly to show how far along they have come with each other, but I'm sure you figured that out. And before you ask, I don't know where I got the idea of Tomoyo being a good gambler and Kero being a great drinker. Tomoyo just seemed like she would be good at it. I mean her smile would have to be the ultimate Poker face, and she's smart so she wouldn't bet everything all at once. And Kero, I don't know, he seemed like he would be a drinker to me. I wanted to get this chapter out much earlier, but a lot of scenes weren't working out, I had to write, rewrite, and add in more things that ever, and I had to go to Canada with my family, so it was impossible for to work on this. Anyway, here's a preview for the much-anticipated (at least for me anyway) chapter 48.

_Sakura: We're on the mainland and take a night off because it's a full moon and Li loses his powers. _

_Tomoyo: Oh look Sakura-chan a festival _

_Sakura: Let's go! But huh? Hoooeeeee! What's my brother doing here? And my father too! _

_Tomoyo: And it looks like they brought someone else too._

_Sakura: Hoeeeeeee! Not him! What a night this going to be! _

_Tomoyo: So join us next time for "Night of the Full Moon part 1" Next Seven Deadly Jewels. See you then._


	48. Night of the Full Moon part 1

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 48

To say Remina wasn't excited about returning to the castle was a large understatement. She was beaten, humiliated, and was just played as the fool, all by a little girl! Her anger was already beyond levels of a human, and she felt like sinking countless villages just to vent. She probably would, right after her miserable report to Viga. The water demon's anger quickly became shame and embarrassment as she approached the throne room. She was the one who swore she would show how easy it was to take the jewels; the one who said you didn't need a laid out plan to get what you wanted. She decided the best thing to do was to swallow her damn pride and take whatever Viga dished out.

With a deep breath, she opened the wide doors to find Viga already waiting for her with Mudo and Magura. The white haired leader already had a 'I told you so' smile on his face that only increased Remina's anger at herself.

"Well, well, if it isn't Remina. Welcome back my dear. How did it go?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Save it Viga!" she growled. "I bet you already know!" Viga let out another chuckle.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I want to watch your greatest moment of failure?" Remina curled her hand into a tight fist.

"You knew I would fail this whole time, and yet you let me go anyway!"

"It would be a good learning experience for you I thought. That and it was very fun to watch." With that Remina snapped.

"You damn bastard!" she exclaimed and fired a powerful jet stream of water. But the second the water left her hand, Viga appeared behind her with his short sword inches away from her neck.

"You should've know better Remina," he whispered in her ear, making her shiver with fear. The white haired man smirked darkly as he felt her heart speed up to a raid pace in complete fear. No matter who it was, be it human or demon, fear was delicious to him. He decided to prolong his amusement as he inched his dagger closer to his attack's neck. "I have every right to kill you right now you know. With one quick motion of my hand your life ends right now." He heard Remina gulp and felt her heart only speed up more. Viga licked his lips in pleasure.

"No please…. I'm, I'm, I'm sorry," she muttered quietly.

"What if sorry isn't good enough?" Her heart increased to the speed of five cheetahs. "What if I feel that your little rebellion is merit enough to slice of your head and display it?" Seven cheetahs. Deciding he had enough fun for know, the leader sheathed his sword and walked passed the water mistress. "Luckily for you, I am in a content mood." Viga almost laughed when he heard Remina slight, but loud sigh of relief.

"Master," Magura chirped in. "Wouldn't tonight be the best night to make a move for the jewels. It is a full moon."

"Don't worry, I already have a plan."

OOOOO

Li looked up at the sky bitterly as he saw the orange red sky and orange tipped clouds. He let out a small growl when he saw the sun float closer and closer to the trees. He turned his head and glared at the forming moon as if thinking it would the celestial object from taking its place in the sky.

How he hated the night of the full moon.

The second the sun went down and the full moon formed, he would lose all his powers. He always felt so naked without his powers, naked and useless. Even with his sword skills to fall back on, it always gave Li a sense of security that he always had his lighting powers to fall back on. But without them he felt like an old man with his cane. Because of its effect on him, Li grew to hate the moon. His hate of it would always grow every time he faced trouble with some demon during the full moon. The last full moon night he experienced only increased his hatred of the moon tenfold.

Just thinking about that night made him mad. It always angered him how one simple demon gave him so much trouble. The minute he got his powers back, he got him back with a bolt of lighting, but that still wasn't enough payback for biting his leg in half. He let out a groan; he hated to see what this full moon had in store for him. Then again, he thought. He doubted that tonight's full moon would be as troublesome. They had managed to get into a town, and he didn't sense any demons or see anyone who would give them trouble. If no one screwed this up, this might just be his easiest full moon night yet.

And even if they did run into trouble, he had a feeling Sakura could handle it. She had gotten stronger and could control her powers much better than the last full moon. It was at that moment Li shook his head and almost yelled to the heavens. Relying on someone, especially that stupid girl, what was wrong with him? He must really be losing his sense. He looked up at the sun, which was almost down fully, and to the full moon that was almost formed.

Li quickly did a scan for auras to see if his _friend_ was in the area. His sense was weakening, so he had to find his_ friend_ and fast. His mental image of the large town they were in speed by him as if he was flying and looking down on it. His sense led him to a large house to the northward outskirts of the town. He let out a sigh, no doubt about it, his _friend _was here all right. Now maybe he could find out just what hell Sakura was. At that moment, said girl let out a scream.

Sakura had been walking in the front with Tomoyo and Kero examining the many shops and people in the large town they were in, thinking about what they could buy with the money Tomoyo had gotten from the gold from the pirates.

"Oh! Look at that necklace!" Sakura exclaimed as she rushed over to the booth.

"It would look quite cute on you Sakura-chan," Tomoyo commented. "And so would that ring."

"It would look much better on me," Kero gloated. Tomoyo just giggled.

"How much do you think is our limit?" Sakura wondered. Tomoyo let out a mischievous giggle.

"Let's just say buying out a couple stores isn't exactly impossible." Sakura jaw dropped.

"You got that much from the pirates!"

"I don't see why pirates continue to pillage and rob. They're already quite rich in my opinion. We're just fortunate they decided to share." Sakura just sweatdropped.

"Tomoyo-chan." As they continued the explore the town, they managed to find out that there was festival tonight, which meant they needed to find a hotel, and buy some kimonos. Of course Tomoyo said it wasn't impossible to buy one of the best looking ones.

"What can I wear?" Kero wondered.

"You want to come too Kero-chan?" Sakura asked.

"Of course! The kid and me don't have our powers tonight, and there isn't a demon or any kind of problem here. So why not take a night off?"

"Now that I think about it, we have been fighting a lot," Sakura thought. Tomoyo agreed.

"Yes and we do owe it to ourselves for a little break. At least for the night."

"Exactly! So once again, what's a great beast like me going to wear to this thing?" The two girls thought for a moment before an idea came to Sakura.

"I saw the cutest bowtie for you. Be right back!" Sakura turned around and jogged down the street towards a vendor. But the second she turned the corner, she bumped into someone's chest hard. The girl was instantly on the ground.

"Watch it," the person said.

"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized as she accepted the person's hand. Once she was on her feet, she heard the person chuckle.

"Six months and you're still a clumsy little kaijou." Sakura's ears instantly picked on the last word, and her little temper flared.

"Hey I'm not a monster!" she exclaimed. 'Wait a minute. Kaijou? Only one person in the entire world calls me that.' Sakura looked up and squinted to get a good look at the person in front of her. She couldn't get a good look because of the glare from the setting sun. The person let out another chuckle before coming down to her eye level.

"This better squirt?" Sakura instantly gasped and nearly screamed.

"Oni-chan!" she exclaimed rather loudly. Touya rubbed his ears as he stood upwards again.

"Damn. Still loud as ever I see."

"What are you doing here!" By this time Tomoyo and Kero had rushed over to her.

"What is it Sakura-chan?" she asked. When she saw Touya she smiled. "Oh I see. It's nice to see you again." Touya's attention wasn't on Tomoyo, it was on the yellow little thing in front of him.

"Oh yeah, you're Sakura older brother right? Yeah I remember you!" Kero exclaimed like they were old friend. Touya raised an eyebrow.

"And….who are you?" Kero smirked.

"I am…..Keroberos! Guardian of Four of the Seven Deadly Jewels!" Touya looked passed the beast and towards his sister.

"Care to explain?" Sakura just chuckled nervously.

"It's a long story," she replied. "But you still haven't answered my first question Oni-chan! What are you doing here?"

"If you really want to know, dad had a dig here. And since nothing was really happening back home, I decided to tag along, and to visit someone," Touya replied. Sakura nodded in understanding. While the hotel was a family thing, their father's real job and passion was archeology. He would always try to get digs close by, but there were times where they would take him far from home, such as now. But the last part of Touya's answer got Sakura wondering who her brother was here to visit.

"Who?" she asked. But her question was answered when some called out,

"Touya!" Touya whirled around and raised his arm to get the person's attention. As they came closer and closer, Sakura's heart started to race in anticipation. When the person finally reached her brother's side, she swore she would die of a heart attack. Her face instantly became red and hot and her heart was thumping rapidly. The person looked at her and Tomoyo and smiled brightly.

"It's been a while, Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan." This time Sakura really did scream.

"HOEEEEEEEE! Yukito-san!"

OOOOO

When Li arrived on the scene, it instantly became a glaring contest between the two of them. Sakura was too embarrassed to say anything and Tomoyo was trying to calm her down. Hoping to brightening the mood a little bit, Yukito invited them to his house where Touya and Fujitaka were staying. Sakura just nodded slyly, while Touya just grunted, his gaze still fixated on Li.

Throughout the way there, Touya and Li were still at each other's throats with their glares, Sakura was still too embarrassed to say anything, so it was Tomoyo and Kero doing all the talking. When they reached Yukito's house, they found Fujitaka preparing dinner.

"We're back," Yukito announced brightly. Fujitaka turned and smiled at them.

"Welcome back. How did the shopping go?" he asked as he chopped some radishes.

"Good. We even picked up some cherry blossoms!"

"Cherry Blossoms?" With that Yukio moved aside to show Fujitaka's daughter and her best friend.

"Sakura-chan! Tomoyo-chan!" the man exclaimed and rushed over to them to give them huge hugs.

"Dad! I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you're well. I never would have thought you'd be here!" Sakura giggled.

"Neither did we."

"Do you have a hotel?" Sakura and Tomoyo shook their heads. "So you must stay here. That is if Yukito doesn't mind."

"Not at all. I'd love to hear what you guys have been up to," he replied.

"So would I," Touya replied suspiciously which made Sakura laugh nervously.

With everyone helping, (Li was somehow dragged into the kitchen, and with no surprise, was good with a knife) dinner was ready by the time the sun was down. Kero was practically drooling out an entire ocean as he stared at the large spread in front of him. As soon as the words "Let's eat" left their mouths, the beast dove into his food, throwing all table manners to the wind.

"So…Sakura, you never told me how that stuffed animal of yours started moving and talking of a sudden," Touya said as he watched Kero scarf down his food. Sakura almost dropped her chopsticks.

"Um….well…you know….it was part of my training. I…had to…make an inanimate object move and talk. It took a while but I finally got it, and since he was so cute I decided to keep him that way!" She had to chose her words carefully. How could she say that Kero suddenly came alive while two powerful thunder warriors were attacking them? There was no way she could say that to them, especially in front of her overprotective brother. "Li really drilled on the spell. Right Li?"

The three men turned to the young man for conferment. Seeing the look of nervousness and desperation in Sakura's eyes, he sighed inwardly and just nodded.

"Really? You did that Sakura? Must be quite the spell then. It's almost as if he's really alive," her father commented as he watched Kero inhale his third helping. Sakura let out another nervous chuckle.

"What can I say, that's magic for you."

"So besides making your stuffed animal move around. What else have you been up to?" Touya asked with that edge of suspiciousness still in his voice. Sakura flinched under the table when she thought about all the demons, maniacs, swordsmen, and criminals they had run into along the way.

"Just you know….traveling around, meeting people, helping people, nothing too exciting."

"What!" Kero nearly shouted. He wasn't stuffing his face, so it gave his big mouth plenty of room to talk. "Nothing too exciting! What are you talking about Sakura! What about the Thunder Warriors and how they attacked you in the mountains? Or the time Viga kidnapped you and took you to this weird church? Or when we fought with that criminal Matena, who turned out to be that rich Mr. Kuro we were body guarding."

"Kero!" Tomoyo hissed trying to shut up the beast, but he kept going.

"Don't you remember when you fought that Forest Mistress Situra? Or the spider women Witmua? I wasn't awake for that, but I know you can fill them in! Or what about that spear guy….!" But before Kero could blab anymore Li slammed him harder than he ever had before into the table and started to pound on the little beast.

"You have the biggest mouth! I swear to God I wouldn't trust you with any secret ever! God you are such a freaking blabbermouth!" While Tomoyo tried to rescue Kero from Li, Sakura was caught under the hard gaze of her brother, and the shocked, and surprised gaze of her father and Yukito.

"You were actually trying to lie about all that! What the hell is wrong with you! Matena, the class A criminal, you actually ran into him! You could have been killed!" Touya bellowed, then turned to Li, who was still pounding on Kero. "And you, you actually stood by and let her do all of this!" This made Li forget about Kero and turn towards Touya.

"Hey don't act like this is all my fault! We could have avoided all those damn situations if your sister wasn't so damn merciful when it comes to other people!"

"Don't dump this all on my sister you bastard!"

"You're one to talk!" Before the two could trade blows, Fujitaka silenced them with hard and stern clearing of his throat. His eyes were closed, so when he opened them, Sakura expected hard cold eyes of an enraged father, but they turned out to be the same kind and caring eyes he always had.

"Now Touya-kun, let's not overreact," he started.

"Not overreact! Dad, I think you're not reacting enough!" It seemed as if Touya was about to go off on another tirade, but his father silenced him with one look.

"While I admit, I am shocked and surprised that Sakura went through all that and tried to lie to us about it, but I am sure she has her reasons. And she is still alive and with us right now, and that is all that matters to me. In fact I'm sure it is because of them, people are able to live happily."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. She was ashamed of herself to think her father would become cold and mean all of a sudden, just because of a few mishaps along the way.

"However," Fujitaka continued, which made Sakura's heart start thumping again. "I would appreciate it Li-san if you did your best to avoid such dangerous situations for the sake of my daughter. And the same goes to Sakura and Tomoyo as well."

Li raised an eyebrow at the man who he deemed as odd. He was kind yet commanding. He would smile all the time and it would be easy for people to perceive him as gullible and naïve like his daughter, but underneath that was someone smart, calculating, and well in formed. He could have easily taken the side of his son and began blowing up at them, but instead he just gave them a stern warning. And even though it was said with kind and warm words, you wouldn't be able to forget them. Besides Wei, Li had never encountered anyone like him before. He was an odd one indeed.

Not wanting to undermine the man he had started to respect, with his sarcasm or coldness, Li just nodded at his request. This brought things back to the warm atmosphere there was before.

"Now that that's settled. Sakura-chan, you must tell me more about these adventures of yours. It'll give me something to brag about to the other archeologists at the dig tomorrow," her father said with a smile. Sakura smiled back and began to tell them of their adventures, beginning from when she left home.

By the time the group had finished recounting the events it was Eleven o clock. Fujitaka and Yukito began to clear the dishes, while Touya started to wash them. Sakura and Tomoyo were about to take a bath when Yukito just remembered something.

"Oh, Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan, I just remembered. There's a festival tonight in town. And after hearing of your adventures, I'm sure you'd like one night off. Right?"

"But, we don't have any kimonos," Sakura replied disappointedly.

"Yet," Tomoyo corrected. "Come Sakura-chan let's hope the shops aren't closed yet. We'll be right back!" Once they were out the door, Yukito turned to Li and Kero.

"Would you two like to come along as well?"

"Of course!" Kero replied without hesitation.

"No thanks," Li replied. "Festivals aren't my thing."

"Oh, that's too bad. But I'm sure Sakura-chan and Tomoyo-chan will bring you back a souvenir." As Yukito walked upstairs to get ready, Li couldn't help but watch as he left. Even without his powers he could feel something from him, but that was it. He knew it was something important, but the moon's power had a hold on his. And it was eleven. In one hour, at midnight, the full moon would be at it's strongest and he wouldn't be able to feel anything at all.

God he hated the full moon.

OOOOO

When Sakura and Tomoyo had returned ten minutes later they were dressed in kimonos they had bought from a vendor they saw earlier. They had barely spend three quarters of the mass fortune Tomoyo had won from the pirates since Sakura insisted they went for one of the cheaper ones.

Sakura wore a pink kimono with white flowers in the center around her sleeves on her back and near the top of the bottom half with a light green obi (belt). Tomoyo wore one of similar fashion only with light yellow as the main color and pink flowers around it and wore her hair in a low braided ponytail. Kero had on a small pink bowtie. Yukito wore a plain green kimono.

"You ready?" he asked with a smile.

"Hai," the girls replied in unison.

"Then let's go."

The festival was filled people and kids running around and enjoying the booths there. Their first stop was the fishing booth, which proved not to be Sakura's forte. The fish fell through the fan the second she picked it up, which greatly annoyed her. But it wasn't a complete loss since Yukito let her have the ones he managed to catch, which was quite a few. Tomoyo had to resist the urge to yell out "Kawaii!" when she saw the blush on Sakura's face as she accepted the fish.

Their next stop was a shooting range, and the prize was a rather large teddy bear. This wasn't Sakura's forte either. Out of the twenty shots she fired, she only hit three of the targets. Tomoyo on the other hand, was a natural at the game. She hit all the targets without even taking time to aim. She was so impressive, a small crowd started to gather around her. One even bet her 70 gold that she couldn't do the same thing blind folded, and the targets moving. Tomoyo took the bet with a smile and five minutes later took the man's money and walked off with Sakura and Yukito with a smile as well.

As the night rolled on, Tomoyo proved to be a natural at games of chance and accuracy. At the ring toss booth she managed to get her ring on the shortest bottle, completely shocking the vender. There even one booth where you had to guess under which cup the ball was under. The vender at that one had the quickest hands Sakura had ever seen. As soon as the game started she lost track of the cup with the ball under it. But Tomoyo guessed it without hesitation. And even walked away with 50 more gold from the gambling vendor. Yukito proved to be fantastic at riddles and puzzles. There was a riddle booth where you had ten matches in the shape of a star, and using the same matches make them into another kind of star. It stumped Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero, but Yukito managed to get it by taking the matches and making them into the symbol for star.

Forty-five minutes in they decided to grab something to eat. Sakura and Tomoyo stared in awe as Kero and Yukito ate ten helpings of octopus balls.

"How can you still be able to eat all that Kero-chan! You had three huge helpings of my dad's dinner!" Sakura exclaimed.

"What can I say kid! A great guardian beast like myself needs energy!" Kero replied as he ate entire ball with one bite.

"Keep this up and you'll be fatter than a pig!"

"But they're so tasty!"

"I agree Kero-chan," Yukito said. "They are quite delicious." Sakura blushed at him.

"But…then again, having a good appetite means you're healthy right?" Sakura said. Yukito smiled and nodded in agreement, making Kero huff.

"Oh I see, when it's me, she says I'm a pig, but when it's him, she says he's healthy," Kero grumbled. Once they were finished with their meal, Yukito stood up and remembered something.

"Oh, it's almost midnight. They are going to be fireworks and I know just the spot to watch them. Care to join me." The three nodded without hesitation.

"Man, free food and fireworks. Now this is what I call a night off!" Kero exclaimed happily. Tomoyo giggled.

"Funny, just a minute ago he was complaining like a child."

Yukito led them to the shrine that was hosting the festival and brought them to the roof, which was as he promised the best place to view the fireworks. Their position allowed them overlook the entire festival below and was high was enough for the sky to seem to be inches away from their touch, especially the large moon, which Sakura couldn't take her eyes off of.

"It's almost midnight," Tomoyo announced excitedly. Sakura didn't really hear her though, her gaze and attention were locked solely on the large moon, which seemed to call out to her. The bright white light, the large overall roundness, and fullness of the object was irresistible to her.

"Sakura," she heard someone quietly call out to her.

'Who is it?' she thought.

"Sakura," she heard again, only getting slightly louder.

'Whose voice is this?'

"Sakura."

'So familiar.'

"Sakura."

'But I don't know from where.'

"Sakura."

'Who are you?'

"Sakura."

"Sakura. Beware."

'Beware what?'

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo's voice managed to break whatever trance the moon had put on her. Sakura quickly turned to her friend. "Are you all right, you suddenly spaced out. And your eyes had a blank expression on them."

"Oh it was nothing," she lied. No need to worry her best friend about a weird voice she probably couldn't hear.

"Well anyway, the fireworks are about to start!" Kero announced. "How about we have a countdown!"

"Sure," his companions agreed.

"All right then let's start!"

"10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2…" At that moment, the moon shifted to the middle of the sky, it was officially midnight.

"1…0!" Suddenly the sky was filled with bright colors and explosions, which caught the attention of everyone, well, almost everyone.

The second the fireworks had started, Yukio's heart made hard _thump_ against his chest. At first he ignored it and enjoyed the beautiful fireworks, but the hard thumping became worse and worse until it pained him to even breathe. He let out a suffocating gasp for air, that didn't go ignored by Sakura and Tomoyo.

"Yukito-san, are you all right?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Yes," he replied with a forced smile, clutching his heart. "I'm fine." At that moment Yukito heart took the hardest _thump_ against his chest yet, making him gasp out in agony.

"Yukito-san!" Sakura cried.

"We have to get a doctor and fast!" Tomoyo said.

"Right, Kero go get one and hurry!" Kero nodded and flew off.

"Please Yukito, hold on. Kero will be back any minute," Sakura said as she held his had, which was burning with heat. "Oh no. Tomoyo, he's running a bad fever too!"

"What could be wrong? Just a second ago he was fine," Tomoyo wondered. Yukito let out another gut wrenching gasp as his heart hit hard against his chest and sped up. A spasm of pain pulsed through his body, making him thrash about and twitch. Sakura increased her grip wishing she could do something.

"Yukito, please hang on." Another loud pain filled gasp escaped his lips as his thumping heart banged against his chest even harder this time, causing another thrashing spasm. What seemed like hours to Sakura and Tomoyo were only a few agonizing seconds as Yukito's heart rate began to slow down, and he began to breath easier.

"It looks like the worse is over," Tomoyo sighed with relief. Sakura kept her grip on him, as if he would die if she did otherwise. But something caught her attention as she held his hand. She felt a pulse. Not a normal kind of pulse, but a very strong pulse that echoing through his body. It seemed to only get faster and faster every single second. What was going on?

"Yukito. What's wrong with you?" she whispered. A gasp from Tomoyo caught her attention. "What is it?"

"Sakura look!" Tomoyo pointed to Yukito's feet, which were glowing yellow? The glow only became brighter and began to move up until his entire body was yellow. His hair began to sway to an invisible wind and his body heat only increased. But soon it began to go down until he was back to normal.

"What was all of that?" Sakura wondered as she let go, thinking it was all over, but she was very wrong.

The second she let go Yukito his body became yellow again, and his hair started to sway. His body began to float in the air as the glowing became brighter and brighter until soon it was blinding to look at. Yukito floated over to the edge and floated upright as if he were standing.

"Yukito-san!" Sakura cried. The glow became brighter and a pure white wing sprouted from Yukito's backside, then another. The girls watched in awe as the wings folded over and covered Yukito, much like when Kero transformed.

"What is this?" Tomoyo gasped in awe.

After a few seconds the wings parted to reveal not Yukito, but someone else. He had long flowing white hair that was tied together in the back near the bottom. Deep, but cold cobalt eyes with silts as pupils and a strange ear cuff on his right ear. He wore an odd long jacket that was tied down by a belt, and had a blue ruby near the collar of it. He floated down to the roof with a grace and pride that Yukio was far from. His cobalt eyes fell on a shocked and terrified Sakura and Tomoyo.

"Greetings. I am Yue."

AN: Finally, Yue's in the story. If your surprised by such a fast update, a couple reasons. Reason number one, this chapter's been in my head for a long while now, and since these are the chapters I've been working towards all this time, why make you wait? Also, with summer winding down unfortunately I'm going have a little less free time since I need to finish a summer reading book and when school finally starts I'll be in advanced classes which guarantees more work and less time for me, so I decided to at least get this chapter out there. If you didn't notice, I took a lot of elements from the show with this chapter. So much so, I even felt like I was watching an episode while I was typing it. I'm sure you'll find a couple while reading. Oh and just a side thought, am I the only person who thinks Yue and Sesshomaru from Inuyasha are practically the same people! I mean I was doing an image search on Yue to make sure I got the description right, and saw an image of Sesshomaru next to the one I was looking at. And man, aside from the different clothes, the crescent moon on Sesshomaru's forehead, they look exactly the same! They have the same attitude, the same kind of presence, they even had the same English voice actor! (I think). In fact while I was writing the transformation scene, I was playing Sesshomaru's theme music while I was writing it and it fit so well! (It's called Youani Sesshomaru in case you're curious. And I played the second half) Was Rumiko Takahashi a fan of Card Captor Sakura before she made Inuyasha? Because if she was that would explain the similarities. Well anyway, here's the preview for the next chapter!

_Sakura: What in the world is going on! Who is this person that Yukito turned into? He isn't like Yukito-san at all! _

_Tomoyo: His name is Yue and it seems he's the other guardian of the Seven Deadly Jewels. But what does he want with Sakura's jewel? _

_Sakura: Things get really bad when Li and my brother arrive on the scene. How can Li fight this guy without his powers. _

_Tomoyo: And before the night is over, Viga makes his move! _

_Sakura: Oh no! Come on sun, rise! _

_Tomoyo: So join us next time for: "Night of the Full Moon part 2" See you then._


	49. Night of the Full Moon part 2

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 49

Sakura and Tomoyo were frozen in awe and fear as their dear friend Yukito transformed into a white and blue figure known as Yue right in front of their eyes. While he may have come from Yukito, Yue was nothing like him. His eyes were narrowed down and filled with ice; the exact opposite of Yukito's bright browns. He had only said four words to them, and yet they were filled with so much malice and frozen personality that it even made their blood freeze over.

His cold cobalt eyes looked them over for a brief second before he took a step forward, which caused them to take a step back. He didn't have any weapons, but from Sakura could feel from his aura, he was powerful. But Sakura was too scared and shocked to even put up a defense between them.

"Wh-wh-wh-what did you do with Yukito! Give him back!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to sound at least little brave, but her stutter gave too much away. Yue just scoffed.

"Foolish girl. I am Yukito," he answered coldly.

"D-D-D-Did you possess him or something? If so then please give him back!" Yue resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he took another slow, but graceful step towards the girls.

"Do you not listen? I told you, I am Yukito."

"How is that possible!"

"I see no need to explain myself you," Yue icily replied. Sakura could feel her heart speed up to a point where she found it hard to take one breath. What happened to Yukito, she could help but ask herself. The person in front of her defiantly was not him. She wasn't even sure what he was. She knew he wasn't a demon because she didn't feel any evil or dark aura from him. In fact what she was sensing wasn't a dark aura, but an ice cold one.

"Please Yukito, if you can hear me, you have to fight whatever has come over you!" This only succeeded in making Yue scoff again.

"Do not waste your breath." By now, the girls were near the edge of the roof. "As long as I am out, it is as if Yukito Tsukishiro doesn't exist."

"That can't be true!"

"It is," Yue replied as his eyes landed on Sakura's necklace. "Now perhaps you can answer my questions."

"Huh?"

"Explain to me how a foolish girl such as yourself has the Necklace of Kamikaze around her neck."

"Wh-what?"

"I think he means your mother's necklace," Tomoyo whispered in her ear.

"That's none of your business!" Sakura exclaimed, covering the necklace with her hand. Yue scoffed again.

"Cute. But as the guardian of three of the Seven Deadly Jewels, I believe it is my business to know."

"Another guardian? Then you must know Kero-chan correct?" Tomoyo asked carefully. Yue raised an eyebrow.

"You know Keroberos? I would have thought he would have been more defensive with the jewels. It was our master's last wish to protect them. The little fool must have just gave them to you."

"That's not true!" Sakura cried.

"I care not to know what your circumstances are, or how that jewel came into your possession. What is important is for me to retrieve that jewel."

"You aren't retrieving anything! You want this necklace, you're going to have to take it from me!" Sakura declared bravely. She wasn't sure what had happened to Yukito, but no matter what the situation was, she would protect her mother's necklace. It was all she had to remember her.

"Have it your way then." With that Yue opened his hand as if he was holding something flat and a white orb rose up from his palm. Sakura and Tomoyo's unasked question was answered when a barrage of crystals shot out towards them from the orb. The girls quickly ducked to the ground and tried to move away, but the barrage of crystals kept coming at them like a machine gun. The girls dashed towards the other side of the roof where the ladder to come up and down was. They were close, when Sakura heard Tomoyo cry out in pain. The amber haired girl whirled around to see her friend on her knees with a crystal imbedded in her leg.

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura saw Tomoyo clench her leg as the blood flowed down to her toes, and her eyes wince in pain. She made her remove her hand, and saw that the crystal had imbedded itself deep within her leg. Sakura shot a glare towards Yue, who returned it with a disinterested stare. But the odd thing was, the crystal barrage had stopped the moment Tomoyo was hit.

"I'm all right Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said reassuringly.

"Tomoyo-chan, can you make it down the ladder at least?" Sakura asked, not taking her eyes off Yue. Tomoyo nodded.

"I'll try."

"Good. Once you're down try to find somewhere safe. I'll make sure to come down with Yukito once this is over." Tomoyo nodded and muttered a quick 'good luck' before going down the ladder. Once she was gone, Sakura felt an increase in Yue's aura.

"I hope you realize how serious I am now." Sakura held back a soft growl as her small hand curled into a tight fist.

"And I hope your realize I'm not playing around either! You took Yukito-san away, and you injured Tomoyo-chan! All these things are unforgivable!" Yue scoffed again.

"Then by all means, show me how serious you are."

"Don't worry! I will!" With that Sakura fired a powerful blast of wind that Yue easily sidestepped. He looked over his shoulder to see that the wind was powerful enough to blow off all the leaves in its path, which caused him to raise his eyebrows, but other than that, no other expression on his face.

'So this girl has some skill after all. Or could just be the jewel. But in the end it won't matter what it is. She'll lose the jewel to me in the end.' Yue's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another strong wind heading his way. He sidestepped the new attack just as easily as the last.

"Are you sure you're serious?" he asked monotone.

"I'm just getting started!" Sakura declared firing an even more powerful one. Yue countered by firing another crystal barrage towards the incoming wind. The crystals easily pierced through the wind attack and headed straight for the sender. Sakura quickly shielded herself with her arms, and clenched her teeth as the crystals cut up her skin as they passed. The crystals, though small, were about as sharp as a katana, it took all her will power not to fall over in pain right there.

The moment the barrage ended, Sakura thrust out both her hands, making her wind attack even stronger. Yue merely flew into the air and attacked with another crystal barrage. The emerald-eyed girl rolled across the roof to avoid the incoming crystals and fired another blast of wind that Yue just slapped away.

"Abandon this worthless resistance, and surrender the jewel to me."

"Please Yukito! You have to be able to hear me! I'll forgive everything if you just give him back!"

"You're wasting your breath!" Yue attacked with another barrage of crystals that Sakura barely managed to dodge. The young girl fired a powerful blast of wind again, but Yue dodged and swooped down. Sakura ducked to the ground as he passed over her and attacked once she saw his back. The moon guardian barrel rolled and brought Sakura to the ground with his crystal barrage. The young girl's kimono was covered with tears, dirt, and some blood from the crystals, and her arms were completely cut up to her elbows.

'There has to be a way to stop him without hurting Yukito,' she thought. Her eyes began to wander around her, hoping something would come to her. Even if she could create her staff right now, she wouldn't want to use it. While it did amplify her wind powers and gave her more an attack, she didn't want to hurt him. The young girl's eye fell on the trees around them, and an idea came to her.

"Finally on your knees I see. Wise choice. Now surrender the jewel." Sakura fumbled within her belt and let out a confident cry when she finally found what she was looking for.

"I'm not finished yet!" she declared, and whipped out the card she wanted. "Haven't used this in a while. Now, Wood card, bind my foe!" At those words countless vines and branches burst out from the card and slowly made their way towards its intended target, who did not seemed worried at all.

"Useless," he muttered as his eyes began to glow. Once the vines reached him, they suddenly froze, whirled around, and bound Sakura.

"What the-!" she cried as her limbs were being bound by the vines of her own spirit. "What's going on!"

"Fool," Yue muttered. "The Wood spirit is under my command." Sakura struggled to break free as the vines began to raise her into the air to Yue's level, but it was no use. The vines began to wrap tightly around her waist by the time she was at eye level with the moon guardian.

"Damn," she muttered under her breath. For a split second her eyes widened at the word she just said, then smirked inwardly. Li was starting to rub off on her.

"As I've stated before," Yue said as he watched her struggle against the vines. "It is foolish to resist. However, because of your stubbornness I know words will not be enough. So, I'll end this at once." With that a bow formed in one hand and an arrow in another. Knowing full well what his intentions were, Sakura tried to reach Yukito again.

"Yukito, please listen!" she cried desperately "I know you don't want to do this, so please, fight whatever spell, or possession he has on you!"

"Be silent," Yue replied icily and released the arrow. Sakura's eyes widened as the arrow raced towards her. Her heart speed back up, making it hard to breathe again. Her breath was fast and shallow as the arrow speed towards her. With, what she assumed, was her last breath, she let out a loud shriek of fear.

OOOOO

Kero had been flying around the festival trying to find someone who knew a good doctor, but everyone kept ignoring him. The little beast resisted the urge to curse out the entire congregation there. They wouldn't ignore him if he could transform into his beast form, then he would be getting answers. Kero almost laughed out loud at the thought of transforming, blowing off a few fire blasts, and getting all his answers on a sliver platter. How great it was to have a second form! Now if only it wasn't a full moon tonight.

The yellow beast's self-praising was cut off when he heard a shriek that was deathly close to Sakura's. He whirled around and saw something green rising out of the roof of the shrine, he couldn't tell what was going on, but he knew Sakura was involved somehow from that cry. Forgetting his appointed mission completely, Kero flew towards the shrine as fast as his little wings would take him.

"I just hope that snow-rabbit guy isn't involved in this somehow," he mumbled to himself.

OOOOO

Touya's blood froze when he heard the faint cry of his sister. He turned to Li who raised an eyebrow at him.

"This way!" he yelled and sprinted down the road. Li rolled his eyes and asked himself why he was following this guy.

Flashback 

While Sakura and the others went out to the festival Touya picked up a book, while Fujitaka read the paper. Li sat in the corner looking impatiently at the full moon, which was getting closer to the center of the sky. The second it hit midnight, all his powers would be gone. He let out a growl; he hated this night more than anything else in the world.

"Where are they?" Touya mumbled as he bit into a cracker. Fujitaka just chuckled.

"Don't worry so much Touya-kun. It's a festival; they're having fun and enjoying the night. It would be cruel to make them come back. Besides, there are supposed be fireworks at midnight." Touya just huffed and went back to his book.

The sound of a loud bell caught the attention of the three men in the room. It was the clock signaling it was midnight. Li closed his eyes and tried to sense the auras in the room, but he couldn't get in touch with his senses at all, it was official, his powers were gone. The young man just scoffed and decided to sleep away the night, when Touya suddenly stood up with a shocked and nervous expression his face.

"This presence," he muttered.

"What's wrong Touya?" his father asked. "Sensing another ghost."

"Ghost sense?" he repeated.

"Yes. Ever since Touya was little, he could sense and see things that others can't. Such as ghosts, and sprits. He used to tell Sakura about what he saw, and she seemed to have developed a slight fear of ghosts because of it," Fujitaka explained. Li just scoffed.

"A little?"

"No dad," Touya interrupted. "This isn't a ghost or a spirit. I'm not sure what it is, but I've never sensed anything like this before! This aura is so cold, and destructive it could make even the strongest demons shake in fear." Li's eyes narrowed at this and stood up.

"Where is it?" Fujitaka asked instantly getting concerned. Touya gritted his teeth and bolted out the door, which his father took as his answer. It was near Sakura. Li quickly followed after the worried older brother.

End flashback 

"So just why the hell are you following me?" Touya asked. "I don't need your help to save my sister." Li rolled his eyes.

"Look I don't like following you either, but if the aura your sensing is who I think it is, your sister might be in bigger than you think. And besides, if it is the person I'm thinking of, I have some unfinished business with him."

"Just don't get in my way."

"Don't get in mine." As the two began to run through the festival, Touya spotted Kero flying overhead towards the shrine.

"Hey plush toy!" he yelled, instantly getting the yellow beast's attention.

"Don't call me that!" he growled as he swooped down.

"Just what's going on! Where's Sakura!" Touya yelled.

"At the shrine. Everything was fine until that snow-rabbit started acting weird!" Kero replied.

"Snow rabbit? You mean Yuki? What the hell happened?"

"You expect me to know? Anyway, Sakura sent me to get a doctor or something, but I heard her scream so I was going back!"

"What the hell are you morons just standing around for!" Li yelled. He was already half way down the road to the shrine.

"Hold on you dumb kid! I'm the one who can sense them!" Touya yelled back as he ran after the green clad young man. Kero sighed in concern and flew after them.

OOOOO

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, expecting to be in the afterlife or heaven, but she saw she was still at the festival. In front of her was still Yue with his bow in one hand and his other hand on his hip. Sakura looked around her, silently asking why she wasn't dead. A warm trickle down her cheek was her answer. She looked over he shoulder and saw the arrow imbedded in a tree behind her. The arrow had only cut her cheek.

"Why?" she asked quietly.

"Why kill you when I already have what I asked for," Yue answered and held up the Kamikaze Necklace. Sakura eyes quickly returned to their previous fire as she struggled to break free of the vines.

"Give that back!" she yelled.

"A child such as yourself has no idea the amount of power this jewel possesses. Now to find the others," Yue was about to fly off when his eyes fell to below them. "Then again, why search when they are being brought to me?"

"What?"

"Sakura!" a familiar voice yelled.

"Oni-chan?" she muttered.

"Hey kid!" another familiar voice said in her ear.

"Kero-chan?"

"Hey! She's up here!" the beast yelled to the two below. A scoff from Yue made Kero focus his full attention on the other guardian.

"It's been a while, Keroberos." Kero looked long and hard at the figure in front of him, trying to remember who it was. "You can't remember? How pathetic that you could not such a simple spell from our master."

"Yue," Kero whispered finally. "The moon guardian."

"So you can remember that much at least. So perhaps you can answer my questions."

"Questions?"

"Perhaps you can answer why you've allowed the jewels to be scattered throughout this land. And why the Necklace of Kamikaze is in the hands of this young girl. Not only that, but I can sense three other jewels below. Are you trying to make a mockery of our master's final wish?"

"What the hell are you talking about! I can barely remember my own birthday, and here you are expecting to remember you and answer all those weird questions? Cut me some slack!" Yue scoffed.

"Still the slacker. At least that much hasn't changed." Kero growled, wishing at that moment he could transform.

"No matter. I will retrieve the remaining jewels in this area, stow them away again. And complete the duty that you failed so miserably to perform."

"I'd like to see you try," Li growled from behind, his sword already drawn. Yue turned around to face his newest opponent.

"You have three jewels. After this I'll only have to track down the remaining three."

"Stay away from him Li!" Sakura warned. "He's too strong for you without your powers!"

"Shut up!" the swordsman yelled.

"A sun user I see. You are a fool to challenge me during your night of weakness. Surrender the jewels and you'll escape with your life."

"Hey!" Li called down to Touya, who was keep an eye on Tomoyo. "Is this the aura you were sensing? How strong is he?" Touya looked Yue over and shook his head.

"That not what I was sensing idiot," he replied. "He's strong, but not as strong as what I was sensing earlier."

'I thought as much. But then, who is it?'

"Enough of this," Yue said. "Surrender or die." Li scoffed.

"That's supposed to be my line!" With that he dashed forward and attacked with a slash that Yue easily dodged. Li spun on his heel and kept his attack alive with a fierce kick. But the moon guardian evaded it as well. The amber-eyed fighter rushed towards his opponent and attacked with a fury of slashes, but none were able to connect. As one came in towards his neck, Yue grabbed the young man's arm and pulled him into a strong punch.

"Give up. Without your powers you stand no chance of winning." Li's fist shot upwards into an uppercut, but Yue quickly slid back.

"I don't care if I have a chance of winning or not. I won't let you steal these jewels!" Li declared.

"Brave words, if only your actions could match."

"Shut up!" As Li dashed forward Yue went on the attack with a crystal barrage. The young man jumped to the side, only to be in the path of another barrage. The swordsman quickly jumped in the air, but the cold voice of the moon guardian made him freeze.

"Fool," he whispered. Li whirled around, only to take Yue's crystal barrage full blast. Blood shot out of the young man's mouth as his whole body was covered with the sharp crystals. He landed with a loud thud with his blood oozing out from him.

"No way! Even without his powers the kid should have lasted longer than that! Damn!" Kero yelled.

"Li!" Sakura cried, still struggling with the vines. Yue floated down and reached into his cloak for the jewels. But Li's hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"Don't….even…think….about it," he growled weakly. The moon guardian easily shook him off and grabbed the jewels.

"You are fortunate to even still be alive, let alone talk. Save your strength and you just might survive."

"Damn….him…." the young man muttered. Yue was about to fly off, when something made him freeze in his tracks. His heart started to speed up, and sweat began to form around his brow. He quickly put the jewels within his clothes.

'This aura! It couldn't be! It's impossible!'

"Hey what's going on now?" Kero wondered when he saw Yue's frozen stature.

"This aura," Touya whispered. "It's the same as the one I was sensing before!"

"What is it?" Tomoyo asked.

"Something powerful is heading this way!" Touya warned. "We have to get everyone out of here now! You hear that plush toy!"

"I hear you, but with the kid injured like this, and Sakura bound it makes things a little harder!" Suddenly the vines wrapped around Sakura released her, and returned to their place of confinement.

"Go now," Yue ordered.

"What's going on?" was all Sakura could ask.

"Someone powerful is coming is this way."

"Who?" The question was answered when a blast of powerful fire shot towards the group. Yue grabbed Sakura and Kero, and quickly pulled them out of the path of the fire. The blast hit one of the booths and easily set fire to it. But the fire quickly spread to the booths around the one, and kept spreading until the entire festival was up in flames!

"No way! How is that fire spreading without any oil or dry wood!" Kero exclaimed.

"Good question. Although I really don't feel like answering it," a cold voice said from the trees. Yue turned around, and his face was as if he had seen a ghost. Sitting on a branch cross-legged was a man with jet-black hair, a long red and orange cloak that covered his chest, with the symbol for fire on the back. The man laughed as he watched them. His eyes fell on Yue and his lips curled into a smile.

"It's been a while Yue," The moon guardian shook off his shock and quickly regained his icily composer.

"So it has, Mudo."

AN: Not really an action-packed chapter, but trust me, the big fight is next chapter. Yue vs. Mudo, place your bets! XD. Since school is starting on Monday (TT) I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible. I had to shorten and add some stuff. Li's fight with Yue mostly. Originally that fight was supposed take up the rest of the chapter, but then I realized there was really no need to make it that long. Besides I couldn't really into an action mood while I was writing this. Mostly because I kept watching CCS AMVs, and those are mostly romance stuff so, couldn't get into action. Oh and by the way, turns out the VA for Sesshomaru isn't Yue's. At least I don't think. I was watching a clip of the English Final Judgment (side note: English version isn't so bad voice-wise) and Yue really didn't sound like Sesshomaru. Although it might as well should be since I could easily see Yue having Sesshomaru's voice, but I digress. Anyway, here's the next chapter's preview!

_Sakura: Oh no! Things have gone from bad to much worse! With Mudo here on behalf of his Master Viga things are going to heat up, especially with a demon of fire here! _

_Kero: Turns out, Yue and Mudo know each other, and fought each other a while back too. Now that isn't fair! How come Yue gets to remember all this stuff, and I don't! _

_Sakura: Things aren't going to be the same once the sun rises. Especially since after this, we get to meet Li's friend! _

_Kero: So be sure to catch the Season Finale of Seven Deadly Jewels! "Night of the Full Moon part 3!" You'll be an idiot if you miss it! _


	50. Night of the Full Moon part 3

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 50

"It's been a while Yue."

"So it has, Mudo." As the moon guardian and demon of fire stared down at each other, the air seemed to get 10 degrees colder. Even with the massive fire that used to be the festival burning not too far away, and Mudo's heat raiding off of him, the large amount of tension coming from the two was enough to freeze over all the heat. Even the light breeze that passed through made Sakura feel like she was back in the mountains.

"What the hell is going on? Who the hell is that guy?" Kero asked Sakura.

"Oh yeah. You weren't there when Li fought him," Sakura remembered. When he heard this Mudo just laughed.

"Is that the guardian of the sun? Keroberos? In the body of a plush toy! HA! Your master had a sense of humor all right!" A vein popped on Kero's head as he gritted his teeth. He wasn't sure what annoyed him more, Mudo making fun of him, or the fact that the demon knew him, but he didn't know the demon.

"You really lucked out Yue!" Mudo continued with a snicker. "Your lucky your master wasn't powerful enough to suppress your powers like that. Otherwise you'd probably end up with a stuffed rabbit as a body!" A deep scowl formed on Yue's face as his hand curled into a fist.

"Silence! And just who was the cause for that!" Mudo did indeed silence himself, but still a chuckle passed his lips.

"Oh my, aren't we irritable tonight."

"Enough of this foolishness Mudo. How is it that you were able to escape your seal? And what do you want now?" The fire demon just scoffed.

"Such simple questions, but I'll only answer one of the two. I'm here for the jewels for my master. It's as simple as that." Yue's eyes narrowed.

"You've had no interest in the jewels before why now? And when have you lowered yourself to serve a master. A _human_ master no less." Mudo just shrugged.

"What can I say, these kind of things happen. But don't get me wrong. Don't think for a minute that I haven't abandoned my ambition. I just need some assistance getting my powers back to their fullest."

"And you actually believe this master of yours will fulfill their end of your little bargain? Don't make me laugh Mudo. You've been a master yourself once, you should know better than anyone else how they operate."

"What I do is my own business. Now, are you going to hand over those jewels or not?"

"No. Unlike Keroberos, I actually remember our duty, and our master's final wish. It would shame them to know that I simply handed over the jewels to a demon such as yourself." Mudo sighed with a smile and shrugged.

"I knew it would turn out this way. But still, what makes your so sure you'll be able to beat me? You couldn't a 100 years ago, what makes you so sure now?"

"It is that you, if I am correct, have only recently escaped your seal. Your body and powers have not yet adapted to this world yet, making your powers less than half. More than enough for to defeat you." Mudo sighed again as he formed his thick bladed orange-red sword.

"You always sound so confident in your assumptions, but then again, that what makes me excited. To see your face when I show you just how wrong you are would be the true highlight of my evening."

"We shall see about that." The fire demon smiled when he saw Yue prepare himself for the fight. Mudo shifted his gaze towards Sakura and the others.

"You there, girl. I have a little game for you and you're friends. That is if your up to it."

"A…game…?" Sakura whispered nervously. She couldn't remember much about the fight with Mudo, but she could remember that he was strong, very strong. If he wanted, he could kill all of them with a single stroke.

"That's right. You see that fire that's consuming the festival? It's going take…oh….about 30 minutes before that fire spreads completely and burns up this entire area. By now its completely consumed this festival. The game is, let's see how many people you can save before you get consumed by the fire yourself."

"Wh-what?" Sakura stuttered. Mudo smirked.

"The game starts…. Now."

At that moment, Sakura's ears were consumed and overwhelmed by the screams and cries for help by the countless people below her. The sound of an extremely large fire burning, and booths collapsing made her heart speed up faster than ever before. Children crying that they were on fire, screaming for help from their parents, who were burning themselves. Tears from in the young girl's eyes as she fell to her knees, covering her ears. How could she have missed so many cries of suffering and pain. There were so many people being burned alive, crying, screaming, yelling to the heavens, and she was just standing there! The young girl exhaled and stood to her feet with her hands curled into determined fists. She lifted Li onto her shoulders and jumped down from the roof.

"Oni-chan, watch them for me!" she said and dashed towards the combustion that was the festival. Tomoyo got to her feet and followed her friend.

"Be careful," Touya muttered.

Back on the roof, Yue and Mudo seemed frozen in their positions as their eyes were locked together. Neither one dared to move a single finger, for fear of completely setting off the other. A smile crossed Mudo's lips as tightened his grip on his sword hilt, a fire of anticipation and adrenaline already flowing through him.

"Well, now that the bystanders are out of the way, shall we begin?" Yue nodded.

"Let's." At that moment, a column that holding up a booth fell into the fire, and the second it burned into the ash, the two fighters were off with a blur.

Yue rushed towards the fire demon, which dashed towards him with an excited smile. The split second the moon guardian blinked, Mudo was gone. Yue narrowed his eyes, and dove forward, avoiding a horizontal strike from behind. Mudo quickly shifted his sword position into a veridical downward strike, and attacked. Yue quickly jumped back and fired his crystal barrage, only to have all his crystals deflected by Mudo's sword.

Once the air was clear, Mudo swung his sword, releasing a blast of pure heat, which Yue easily evaded by going into the air. The moon guardian quickly fired another round of crystals, but Mudo with a swung of his sword, incinerated them all. Yue attacked once more with his crystals, but Mudo suddenly disappeared. Without a hint of surprise, or shock, Yue ducked under a sword swing to his head, and whirled into a kick to the fire demon's head. Mudo pulled on Yue's leg, and landed a hard punch into the guardian's face.

Yue swiftly flipped to regain his balance in the air, and fired his crystal barrage again as Mudo came down. The fire demon deflected them all easily and countered with a blast of fire from his sword. The moon guardian quickly bent his upper body back, and allowed himself to drop to the ground with a flip.

The two landed at the same time, in the same spots they started in. They had no short breath, or a bead of sweat on their brows.

"All right," Mudo declared as he cracked his neck. "I think that was a good enough warm up." Yue nodded with a grunt.

'No way!' Touya thought as he watched. 'That was just a warm up? I could barely keep up, now they about get serious?'

"Do you really have time to fool around like this Yue?" Mudo asked as he positioned himself into a striking stance. "You are limited to a full moon only. It maybe midnight now, but once an hour passes, your powers will slowly begin to decrease until you transform back into your pathetic human form."

"Do not worry about that. I will defeat you by then without any problems," Yue stated.

"We'll see." With that Mudo charged towards his opponent. His entire body was nothing but an orange-red blur that Touya could barely keep up with. Yue on the other hand wasn't too concerned. The guardian simply held up his index and middle finger and waited. Once the demon was close enough, Yue swung his arm, releasing a blue whip from his fingers that connected with Mudo's legs, making him stumble. His body was visible to the normal eye for a split second, but that was all Yue needed. At that moment, another whip slammed against his face, knocking him back.

Yue's whips kept coming at the demon, who defended himself by knocking them away with his sword. Mudo quickly knocked away another whip, and found a split second opening.

"Balls of Inferno!" Yue quickly cut off his whip attack and dodged to the side, only to be knocked off the roof by a powerful fire blast. As he flew through the air, Mudo came in from above him and brought down his sword with a blur. The moon guardian swiftly caught the sword by its side and pushed it to the side. He dodged the incoming punch and came in nose-to-nose with the demon.

"This fight is over," Yue declared softly. Mudo saw his point when he looked down and saw the guardian's hand over his heart. "Die." With that, Yue fired his crystal barrage through the demon's chest, making him fall towards his own fire. But just as he began to fall, his body burst into flames.

"I can't believe you fell for that," the fire demon whispered in his ear from behind. Mudo slashed through Yue, only to find it was an afterimage. Before the fire demon could locate the moon guardian, an arrow flew out from the trees that he barely dodged. The demon fired a fire blast at the area, making it explode into flames. He was rewarded when he saw Yue fly out of the combusted area, and fired another blast.

Yue interrupted the incoming attack with his crystal barrage. When the two attacks met they exploded on impact, covering the two combatants with black smoke. The moon guardian squinted his eyes to try to see through the smoke, only to see a flaming fist imbed itself in his stomach. The second he hunched over, Mudo grabbed him by his collar and hurled him into the roof of the shrine.

As Mudo came in with his sword, Yue rolled out of his path and counter attacked with a hard kick to his chest. Mudo flipped to the ground and smirked. This was just what he expected from Yue. Even if he didn't get the jewels, this fight was good enough for him.

Before Yue could mount another attack, Mudo fired another blast. The moon guardian swiftly flew into the air and within seconds, one of his whips was wrapped tightly around the fire demon's neck.

"What are you getting out of this?" he asked. "You know full well the power that the jewels can create when brought together, why are you helping someone get such a terrible power. You know it will only destroy them." Mudo just chuckled.

"Like I said, what I do is my own business." Yue narrowed his eyes, obviously not satisfied with the fire demon's answer, and tightened the hold his whip had on his neck.

"You will answer my question," the guardian scowled. Mudo just chuckled.

"Maybe….you can answer….one of…mine," he said through gags. "Why are….you so…eager….to protect something….that's so….dangerous?"

"I have a promise, a vow to keep, to my master." Mudo smirked.

"I have a promise to keep myself." The fire demon placed his hand on the whip, making it burst into flames, and ran up towards Yue, who quickly let go. The moon guardian was cut off by a barrage of fireballs, and swooped down towards his attacker.

"Crystal Barrage."

"Balls of Inferno!"

The two barrage attacks collided with a large explosion that blew back the two combatants. Not waiting at all for the smoke to clear, the two charged into the black smoke to continue their fight.

OOOOO

Sakura and Tomoyo ran towards the enflamed festival trying to save as many as they could before the entire area was consumed in flames. The second the girls stepped into the flaming area, it felt as if they were going to melt. Sweat was already pouring from their foreheads, and even their light summer kimonos felt like thick animal fur.

"The first thing we have to do is put out these fires," Sakura as he drew out her card. "Watery! Put out these flames!" The sprit burst out from the card and flew over the massive flames putting them out instantly. Sakura smiled and was about to help the people escape when the fires suddenly burst back to life.

"What the-!" Sakura exclaimed.

"That's impossible. Not even your Watery card can put out these flames?" Sakura made a fist and pulled out the card again.

"I'll try again! Watery!" The spirit exploded from the card and flew over the flaming festival again. The flames were put out for a few seconds before bursting back to life again.

"Sakura, we aren't going to save anyone this way."

"You're right. You go save as many people as you can, I'll focus on these fires." Tomoyo nodded and ran to see if anyone was still alive to need saving. Sakura once again tried Watery, but the flames kept spring back to life as if they were taunting her. Frustrated, Sakura thrust out her hand, shooting out a blast of wind. Her eyes widened when she realized that only helped to spread the fires.

'What am I supposed to do now?' she thought. Unknown to her there was someone watching her from the trees.

OOOOO

Touya and Kero watched as Yue and Mudo's battle turned the scarred ground of the shrine into a complete flaming war zone. The shrine was filled with holes and slid marks from their slamming into it. The ground was covered with embers and stray crystals from their attacks. But what had their eyes fixed was the forest in front of them. The once green and beautiful forestry that surrounded the peaceful temple had become completely enshroud with flames. The fire had spread faster than any fire Touya had seen before. The fire created by Mudo made Kero's fire attack in his beast form seem like steam. The fire was so hot that anything that came within reach of the flames instantly burned up. Every bird, squirrel, rabbit, and deer inhabiting the forest became instant piles of ash as the fight went on. Nothing was left of them after the fire reached them. Even their bones became ash.

But their fight still continued, and Touya knew if this kept up, the entire town would be up in flames. He looked over Kero, who was watching the fight as if his life depended on it.

Kero couldn't help but feel there was something about this that was so familiar. It was as if he had seen all of this before, but for the life of him couldn't remember where. The little beast squeezed his eyes shut, focusing, and ordering his mind to remember what his counterpart and the fire demon could.

With all his willpower, Kero found himself at the base of a vast mountain completely surrounded by forest. He could tell he was in his beast form because he was on all fours, and could feel the wing sprouting from his back. Next to him was Yue who had a look of horror and fear in his eyes. Kero followed his gaze to the top of the mountain and saw thick black smoke rising into the air from something.

Suddenly, as fast as one could blink, the entire forest was on fire, and the two guardians were trapped within. As the smoke entered their lungs the two guardians found it hard to stand, let alone breathe. Kero let out a hard and raspy cough for air as he fell to his knees along with Yue. The sun guardian could barely keep his eyes open, but he did see a look of anger in Yue's eyes. The beast once again followed his gaze and saw a figure he easily recognized as Mudo.

"What…have you…done Mudo!" Yue exclaimed weakly. The fire demon just smirked.

"Ensured my ambition."

Kero shook his head and found himself back at the temple with fire all around them, and Touya yelling at him.

"What the hell do you think your doing spacing out like that!" he yelled with Li on his shoulder. "We have to get out of here now!"

"What?" the little beast wondered, still in a gaze because of his vision. But Touya's point was fully seen by Kero when a fire blast from Mudo hit the shrine, engulfing it in flames, which was enough to snap Kero out of his daze.

"Oh right! Let's get the hell out of here!" But as he followed Touya he couldn't help but wonder about his vision.

'What the hell was that?'

OOOOO

Yue barrel rolled away from another fire blast and fired an arrow at the fire demon. Mudo easily slashed the arrow away, and countered with a barrage of fireballs. The moon guardian flew into the air, easily avoiding the attack, but flew into the path of another strong fire blast. Yue swiftly flew backwards and fired four arrows at his opponent. Mudo tried to dodge, but the arrows easily imbedded themselves into his limbs, pinning him to a tree.

"It's over," Yue declared as he aimed an arrow to his head. Mudo smirked.

"Not yet. Dragon Breath!" Like the name suggested, a strong breath of fire blasted from the demon's mouth, catching Yue by surprise. The guardian was blown back thirty feet as the fire burned the area. The moon guardian landed on the ground with a loud thud, but managed to get back on his feet.

"A new trick I assume," he muttered to the demon in the trees.

"Not really," Mudo shrugged. "Had that one for a while, just needed a good use for it. Honestly, I don't know why you people get so surprised at that attack. I'm a demon of fire, I can shoot it from anywhere on my body."

"You have far too much confidence in yourself," Yue pointed out with a glare, Mudo just waved him off.

"What's so bad about knowing you can do something? Would you say I'm overconfident if said, I can take the jewels from you within the next thirty minutes?"

"Yes."

"Well I guess we'll just have to see what the next thirty minutes has to offer."

"Yes we shall." And with that said, the fight continued.

OOOOO

To say Sakura was at a complete loss was an understatement. No matter what she did the fires kept coming back. She tried the water spirit, her wind powers; she even tried using her wind to blow some dirt on the fire, none of this worked. The only good news was that Tomoyo managed to get all those who left away from this place. But it still wasn't good enough to completely left Sakura's spirits. The fire was spreading fast and in ten minutes would burn completely out of control. It wouldn't take long for it to reach town either.

The young girl made a tight fist. No matter what, she would allow this fire to get that far. She didn't want anyone else to be burned alive. With a renewed resolve, she whipped out the water spirit, and put all her will into it.

"Watery! Clear the fires!" The spirit burst out from the card even stronger than before and once again flew over the fires. Within seconds the fires were dispensed, and Sakura fell to her knees, she had used up most of her energy.

"I did it," she whispered with a smile. It took longer than before, but the fires sprung back to life again after a short five minutes. "What!"

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo called as she ran up to her friend. "Everyone has escaped, I made sure, there isn't anyone left here."

"That's good, but these fires aren't dispensing at all. No matter what I do. I've tried Wind, Water, even dirt, nothing works!"

"Why not all three together?" she proposed. Sakura looked at her friend, before mentally smacking herself for not thinking of that idea before.

"Thanks Tomoyo." The emerald-eyed girl stood up and once again pulled out Watery. "Watery!" She called as she hurled it into the air. She then clapped her hand together, creating a powerful gust of wind that caused a large amount of dirt and dust to fly up with it. "Combine with the wind and the earth to put out the fires!"

The result was a powerful tornado of the three mixed elements crashing into the fires and putting them out in seconds. Sakura sighed with relief when the tornado disappeared and the fires were put out, and fell to her knees.

"Thanks for the advice Tomoyo."

"No problem. Now all we need to do is find your brother and the others." Sakura nodded, ready to get up when the fires ignited again.

"There's no way!"

"Impossible!" This time the flames were raging worse than before, and spreading ten times faster than ever. Sakura watched in horror as the flames consumed the rest of the few pieces of rubble that was left of the festival, and started to spread in the direction of town.

"We have to stop those flames!" Sakura exclaimed, but she couldn't get to her feet, she had used up too much energy.

"Sakura you can't even stand up!"

"I know, but we gotta stop those flames!" the amber haired girl said, but when she tried to stand, she just fell over again. The girls watched helplessly as the flames started to come their way, and in a matter of seconds, the flames would engulf them.

"Good try," the figure watching muttered and stood up. "I'll just take it from here then." With that, the figure muttered a few words and waved their staff, releasing a powerful wave, equal to the power and size of a tsunami. The girls watched in awe as the wave that seemed to form out of nowhere consumed all of the fires in the area, even the one that was heading towards the town, dispensing them instantly. But what shocked them even more was that the flames didn't spring back at all.

"Who was that?" Tomoyo finally asked out loud. "Do you sense anyone Sakura-chan?" Sakura did a scan of the surrounding area, but felt no one around for miles.

"No. There isn't anyone here at all," she answered.

"Then, who did this?"

The figure within the tress chuckled and turned their backs.

"I have a feeling we'll be meeting again very soon, Miss Kinomoto." And with that they disappeared.

"Sakura! Tomoyo!" Touya called out to the girls. When he arrived he saw his sister look completely exhausted, and the massive fire from before was completely put out. "Did you, do all of this?" Sakura shook her head.

"No, some else did." At that moment, Li, who had been on Touya's shoulder, snapped opened his eyes and looked around.

'He's here,' he thought. 'That bastard is defiantly here. Damn! I must have just missed him!'

"Well, look who decided to wake up from his beauty nap," Kero chuckled, only to kiss the ground.

"Shut up. At least I did something," Li shot back.

"Hey! I can't transform it's still a full moon remember!"

"Oh yeah a convenient excuse!"

"Looks like he's back to normal," Tomoyo said as she watched the bickering two. Sakura nodded, but couldn't help but wonder, who helped her just now?

OOOOO

Mudo smirked as he dodged another crystal barrage from Yue. His fire had been put out completely, but not by the girl, by someone else much more powerful. He deflected a whip attack from the guardian and countered with his Balls of Inferno, which had half of its normal power.

'Look like it's time I wrapped this up,' he figured with a sigh. 'It was fun while it lasted.' The fire demon quickly flipped onto a tree branch while Yue stayed in the air.

"Do you yield?" he asked.

"Hardly. I was just thinking you and I should finish this. My powers are at half their strength, and by the position of the moon, you aren't at full strength either. So how about we lay all our cards on the table eh Yue?" The moon guardian let out a short nod before flying up so that he was directly behind the moon.

"As you wish. I shall finish this with one last attack."

"So will I. No matter who wins, this fight is over for tonight." The two nodded at each other before completely flaring up their auras for their final attack.

"O Powerful Moon grant me your divine power and allow me to strike down my enemy. Use me as your medium to strike down the darkness," Yue chanted as his white aura flared higher.

"Demons of hell, demons of fire rise up from the darkness fill yourselves with my might. Powers of fire, powers of hell hear my cry and fill me with your power!" Their aura flared higher and higher until it was possible to see them all the way from the town. Their eyes snapped open once their chants were finished, and fired their final attacks.

"Celestial Strike!"

"Inferno Blaze!"

The two powerful attacks collided with a loud explosion that tore up what was left of the forest and made the ground shake like in a massive earthquake. The ground tore up, and the trees collapsed like falling giants. Yue poured more of his energy into his blast, and let out a successful scoff when he saw Mudo slide back. The fire demon gritted his teeth and used more of his energy. The blasts were even matched until one over powered the other, and the sender was completely consumed by the blast.

"What!"

OOOOO

Sakura and the others dropped to the floor when they heard a massive explosion rock the area. For what seemed like hours the entire world was white as debris from the explosion was hurled in every direction, including many trees, rocks, and pieces of the shrine, and its steps. When it finally died down they slowly stood up to try and make sense of what just happened. Tomoyo was the first to notice the winner float down towards them.

"Look! That is…." The group watched as the winner came down towards them, victory obvious in his eyes. It was…. it was….

Mudo.

With Yukio slung over his shoulder.

"Yukito-san!" Sakura exclaimed both fearfully and happily.

"Yuki!" Touya growled. "What did you do to him?" Mudo just waved him off as he tossed the unconscious teen at his feet.

"Simple, I won. The fool used too much of his own energy and transformed back into his pathetic human form. Well it doesn't matter to me. I got what I came for," to show his point, the fire demon showed them the four jewels he had won from the guardian.

"Bastard!" Li growled ready to draw his sword despite his injuries. Mudo just waved him off as he turned around.

"You barely escaped death tonight, don't ruin it." Li let out another growl before he stood down. He was hardly a match for the demon with his powers, without them, that was just a huge invitation for death.

"Will he be okay?" Sakura asked aloud. Touya looked him over and just nodded.

"He doesn't seem to be too hurt." Mudo was about to walk off when he turned to Sakura.

"Girl," he called and threw something at her feet. It was the Necklace of Kamikaze. "I don't need that." And with that the demon disappeared with a blast of fire.

"I am officially staying away from festivals for a while," Kero said after some minutes of silence. Li didn't bother to say anything back, he was too preoccupied thinking about Mudo's last action.

'He gave back one of the jewels? You can't do anything if you don't have all seven. What is he up to?'

"We're just lucky we managed to escape with our lives. Let's go home before things get weirder," Touya said. It was at that moment Yukito woke up.

"Eh…what….what happened?" he asked weakly. "I remember waiting for the fireworks with Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan, and Kero-chan."

"Please take it easy Yukito-san," Sakura said. "You've had a hard night." Yukito looked around and saw all the rubble, debris, and ash that used to be the festival.

"Was there some sort of fireworks accident?"

OOOOO

The next day, Li woke up with a start. His wounds from the previous night had already healed and he was ready to finally meet his _friend_. He let out a groan as he stood up. It was going to be a long day indeed.

After they ate, they found it extremely hard to sidestep Touya who absolutely refused to allow his sister outside after what happened yesterday. But after three tirades from him, Fujitaka finally allowed them to go, but gave them a stern be careful warning before they left.

"So just where are we going again?" Sakura asked as they came up on the town's outskirts. It was a huge field with a dust road leading somewhere, which made Sakura and Tomoyo wonder if anyone lived out here.

"We're going to meet a friend of mine. Hopefully he can show us where Mudo took the jewels, and get some answers," Li answered.

"Answers to what?" Sakura wondered.

"Something that's been on my mind," he replied simply. Sakura gave him a confused look, while Tomoyo looked at him knowingly. It was Sakura's odd powers that he was wondering about, but she couldn't help but wonder how one person could have all the answers.

After about an hour, the group finally came upon a house that the girls couldn't help but stare in awe at.

"Hoeeee!" The house was a large European style mansion that was three or four stories high with more windows that Sakura could count. There were balconies on some of the top-level windows and some on the bottom windows. There was even a long stair way to the door. They climbed the stairs and Li knocked on the large door with the big doorknocker. "Who in world lives out here?"

"Come on asshole!" Li yelled at the door as he knocked harder. "I don't have all day!"

"Hai, Hai," they heard a voice from inside. Within a few moments the door swung open to reveal a young man about Li's age, possibly older with navy hair, and glasses. Unlike Li's bitter, and annoyed expressions the young man before them greeted them with a smile and bowed politely as he introduced himself.

"Greetings, my name is Eriol Hiiragizawa. It's a pleasure to meet you."

AN: And so ends season 1! (The story is still going on just so you know, just thought it'd be better to divide it into parts) Since it was a season finale, I decided it would work best to update the last day of Summer Break for me. It took me only two days to finish this, mostly because this has been in my head for a long while, so I was eager to finally get it down. I'm excited Eriol is finally in the picture, I have a lot of things planned for him. Well anyway here's the preview for the first chapter of Season 2! (Or just chapter 51) You read that while I go and pack my book bag for school tomorrow. (Which sucks completly!)

_Sakura: So Li's friend turns out to be a kind and polite gentlemen! He completely throws off anything I would have expected from someone who's Li's friend! _

_Tomoyo: Yes, but Li doesn't seem too happy to see him, I wonder why? _

_Kero: And I can't help but feel there's more to this guy than he lets on. What is he hiding? _

_Tomoyo: And before the day is over, we're going to meet another one of Li's friends! _

_Sakura: So be sure to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels: "Friendly Foes!" See you there! Wow, I'm so glad Tomoyo and I don't act that way! _


	51. Friendly Foes

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 51

"Greetings my name is Eriol Hiiragizawa, it's a pleasure to meet you," the young man greeted with a formal bow. Sakura, who was unused to such formality just stood there with a confused look on her face, while Tomoyo just smiled back and returned the bow. Li just scoffed and rolled his eyes. When Eriol looked to see who his guests were, his eyes brightened and his smile widened when he saw Li.

"Hey," Li greeted simply.

"Is that really you Syaoran? How long has it been?" he almost screamed like a fangirl. "You're looking well."

"Yeah, yeah." Eriol then turned to the two girls.

"And who are these lovely ladies who you are blessed to have as company?" he asked as took Sakura's hand. Tomoyo batted Eriol a watchful eye. The last time someone spoke to Sakura like that, she ended up in a raid and almost got in real trouble, but since Li wasn't screaming bloody murder with his eyes, or growling, she figured it was okay, but that didn't stop her from keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

"Sa-Sakura," the bewildered girl answered. Eriol smiled and kissed her hand, making the girl redder than a tomato. "Hoeeeeeee!"

"Cheery Blossom," he translated. "What a lovely name." He then moved on to Tomoyo and asked her the same way.

"Tomoyo Daidouji," she answered with a smile. Unlike with Sakura, Eriol didn't kiss her hand; instead he just smiled back, and went on to Kero.

"What a cute plush toy," he cooed, which instantly got Kero ranting.

"Plush Toy! Argggg! I am the Great Keroberos! Guardian of Four of Seven Deadly Jewels!" he practically yelled to the heavens. Eriol just chuckled and patted the small beast on the head.

"Yes, Yes, my apologies Keroberos." Kero's face lit up with joy.

"Finally! Some respect! You heard that! He actually called me by my proper name! Not Kero-chan, and defiantly not stuffed animal, but by my real name!"

"Shut up," Li muttered as Eriol came back to him.

"Such lovely company Syaoran. Are you starting a harem?" he asked, which struck Li's last nerve.

"You moron!" he yelled and slammed his fist hard on his friend's skull, making him kiss the ground instantly. "Why the hell would I start a harem! You've gotten in more stupid in the two years I've been gone!"

"Damn, you've had some experience with this," Kero said. Li growled, and gave Kero the same treatment as Eriol. When their host didn't stir for a minute, the girls became concerned.

"Li, maybe you shouldn't have hit him so hard, he isn't even moving," Tomoyo said with concern. Li just scoffed and kicked his friend's body.

"He's just overreacting," he replied and started to kick harder. "Get up you idiot, I didn't hit you that hard!" At this Eriol jumped to his feet as if nothing had happened and dusted himself off. But what Tomoyo struck as weird was, there was no bump on his head. The blow Li dealt their host with was enough to knock out a person for the rest of the day, but Eriol got up as if nothing had happened. When he turned around to let them in, Tomoyo saw absolutely no indication that he got hit at all. As the girl followed her friends inside, she walked passed Eriol as he held the door open for them. She turned her head as she walked in, and caught a mischievous look in his eyes with a small, but calculating smirk on his lips.

"Hoeeeeeee!" Sakura squealed when they entered the house. They were met with a long hallway with red and gold trimmed carpet with some sort of seal in the center. There was a grand staircase with the same carpet as the floor that wound, and turned like a snake as it led you to the upper floors. On each side of the carpet there were tables with vases, flowers or mirrors, each with such rich quality that Sakura had to wonder if this was real or not. On the walls were paintings of all kinds with a chandelier in the center of the ceiling.

"Wow!" Sakura exclaimed. "Do you live here by yourself Hiiragizawa-san? How did you afford this?"

"He's a doctor," Li answered simply, Sakura looked at him with an amazed looked in her eyes.

"Really!" Eriol just chuckled as he led them inside.

"But of course, now I'm sure all of you are quite tired, so how about we all go into the lounge." Their host led them down the grand entrance and opened one of the many doors on the floor.

Sakura's eyes widened once again when she saw the affluent lounge room. There was soft carpeting covering the entire room with a small table in the center. Armchairs were positioned around the room like a round table. There were smaller tables about with more vases and statues that seemed richer than the ones in the entranceway. On the left wall a large size fireplace that seemed like a chamber room covered the entire wall with a rich painting accented by two lamps. In the center of the ceiling was another chandelier, not as expensive as the one in the entranceway, but still expensive in Sakura's eyes. Light poured into the room by the three ground windows that took up the entire walls they were situated in. On the far end of the room was another case of winding stairs.

"Please," Eriol insisted as he motioned to the armchairs. "Have a seat, while I get some tea ready." His guests took their seats, while their hosts walked out towards the kitchen.

"Hoeee!" Sakura squealed softly as she gazed the great room. "It's like he lives in a castle!"

"Yes Hiiragizawa seems quite wealthy," Tomoyo agreed.

"Damn! I bet this guy has some great sweets! I'm so going to ask for some cake!" Kero exclaimed. Li just scoffed.

"He's just showing off."

"You think so?" Sakura asked. "He seems so humble and kind." Li rolled his eyes at her.

"Trust me, he's not so great."

"Sorry you feel that way," their host said from the doorway. He placed a tray of tea and small cakes on the coffee table and sat on a larger red armchair across from the small group in front of him. "Care to explain this sudden visit, Li?" he asked as he took a cup. Li shot him a look, but Eriol didn't seem to notice.

"I…need…. your…. help…." the younger teen muttered reluctantly. Eriol let out a smug smirk that was covered by the cup.

"What was that? I'm afraid I didn't hear you." Li instantly growled.

"I said…. I need your help," he replied this time through gritted teeth. Eriol had to push himself not to chuckle. He had to hold the cup in between his teeth to keep from letting out a laugh.

"One more time, I didn't catch it again." This time Li's temper flared.

"Damn it! I know you heard me you bastard!" he yelled, already prepared to slice Eriol in half. Sakura quickly came in between them.

"There's no need to get violent Li. Hiiragizawa-san is pretty far from you so it would be hard for him to hear you muttering like that," Sakura tried, but it didn't help much.

"Far my ass!" Li exclaimed as he tried to get past Sakura. "He's just messing with me and I know it!" Eriol this time let out a small chuckle, which was only a small bit of the laughter he was holding inside himself.

"Please, do try and calm down Li," the dark haired host said. "I heard you. So what is it you need help with?" The swordsman growled one more time before going into his explanation.

"I need you to find a demon whole stole some of the jewels from me. His name is Mudo, do you know anything about him?" Eriol thought for a minute, but shook his head after a few minutes.

"But still if a demon was able to steal the jewels from you, he must have been powerful then. That, or you were fighting during the full moon again."

"He was!" Kero piped in. "You should have seen how crappy his fighting was! He fell faster than a rock! If you blinked you missed it!" Being thrown into the wall by a very annoyed Li silenced Kero.

"Shut up you damn stuffed animal! God I can't stand you!"

"Yeah well the feeling's mutual you bastard kid!"

"Who are you calling a kid!"

"Who are you calling a stuffed animal!" The other three sighed as they watched the two engage in their normal bickering. Eriol chuckled as he took another sip of his tea.

"They're like this all the time I assume?" he asked the girls.

"More than you can imagine," Sakura replied. "It can get pretty embarrassing when we're in public."

"I think it's rather humorous," Tomoyo said with a giggle.

"Yes. At least some things haven't changed," Eriol muttered to himself. Tomoyo glanced over to him, and caught the wistful almost sad look in Eriol's eyes for a split second before he broke into a smile again. "Well if you've been fighting during the full moon again, I might well check the damage you've done to yourself. Come on." With that Eriol dragged Li by his collar towards the stairs.

"Hey! Let go you bastard! I can walk!" Eriol ignored him and turned towards the girls. "Sakura-san if you would come with me as well. And Tomoyo-san if you get bored, there are plenty of books in my study to occupy your time. Do you need me to escort you?"

"No, I'm sure I will be able to find it," Tomoyo replied.

"Very well. We won't be long. Sakura-san if you would follow me please." Sakura nodded, and followed Eriol, and a still struggling and protesting Li up the winding stairs.

The stairs led them to the third floor of the mansion, and unlike the first level, this level had hardwood floors. The walls were blank, save for a few paintings here and there, and lamps shone down on them from the ceiling. There were just as many doors and turns on this floor as downstairs, but there was more of a professional aura on this floor.

"Do you live in this big house by yourself Hiiragizawa-san?" Sakura asked.

"Well no, the maid lives here too," he answered, still dragging Li along.

"Since when do you have a maid?" the amber-eyed teen asked. As long as Li had known him, Eriol was more of an enigmatic, solitary person, for him to have a maid living with him was quite unusual, even for him. Eriol ignored Li's question and stopped at a door.

"Here we are. My examination room," he announced. "This entire is devoted to my patients, and my work."

"If you're a doctor, why isn't there anyone here now? Aren't there people who stay here because of their sickness?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm…. Let's just say I work much faster than other doctors," Eriol replied.

"Wow! You must be really good then!" Eriol just chuckled as he opened the door.

"I guess you could say that." The examination room was nothing spectacular. It had the standard table, a chair for the doctor, a cabinet filled with medicines, and different kinds of gadgets and tools hanging on the wall. "Now, who's first?"

"I think the term is ladies first," Li said pointing to Sakura.

"Well then if it's ladies first, why aren't you going Li?" Eriol joked.

"What was that!"

"Nothing, nothing. Sakura-san if you would." Sakura nodded, and got on the examination table. "All right, shall we begin?"

OOOOO

Tomoyo and Kero stood in the doorway of Eriol's study with their jaws hanging open. When Eriol said there was plenty to read, he was not kidding at the least. In front of them was about ten or more library worth of books. The tall walls were completely covered by the massive books shelves that extended all the way to the ceiling. The room was two entire floors of books. There was a circular center with a large red armchair, with a desk in front, and a fireplace. The desk, along with the floor, was covered with paper, and half read books. It was obvious Eriol didn't pick up after himself.

"Damn!" Kero exclaimed. "Is this all that this guy does in his spare time!"

"Well, there isn't much else you can do when you live alone in this big house," Tomoyo replied as she continued to look around the room. But before she could dive into any reading, she heard someone pound at the door. From how hard and fast they were hitting the door, the person sounded very angry. With the house being so large, Tomoyo wondered if Eriol heard it or not, so she took it upon herself to open the door.

"I wonder who it is," Kero wondered following Tomoyo. "I mean the guy practically lives out in the middle of no where, who could possibly want to visit him?"

"Eriol!" the person, screamed. "Open the door! I know you're there!"

"Please wait a moment," Tomoyo said as she opened the door.

"Who are you?" the person at the door asked, looking over Tomoyo.

"I was about to ask you the same question. But if you are looking for Hiiragizawa-san, I believe he's in his examination room," Tomoyo replied. The person nodded, and ran towards the stairs, leaving a perplexed Tomoyo and Kero.

"Who the hell was that?" the small beast asked.

"I'm not sure, but shall we follow, to make sure no harm comes to our friends?"

"Sure, it's not like we have anything better to do."

OOOOO

"Now say ahhh," Eriol instructed.

"Ahhh," Sakura repeated, opening her mouth wide. Eriol inserted the tongue depressor, and took a long look at her mouth. After two minutes, he threw away the tool, and wrote something down.

"Now, just one more test. Lift up your shirt."

"Hoeee!" Sakura squealed, crossing her hands over her chest. Li gave the eccentric doctor a hard blow to his head.

"It's okay, not like that," Eriol chuckled as he got up rubbing his head. "Just up to your bellybutton is fine." Sakura nodded and did what she was told, but still had an unsure look on her face, which only worsened when Eriol came closer.

"What are you going to do?" she asked nervously. The doctor just gave her a reassuring smile.

"Just relax," he said softly, and carefully placed his hand on her exposed stomach. Sakura was about to ask what he was doing again, when she felt her entire body relax all at once. Her grip on her shirt loosened so much, she almost dropped it. The feeling of relaxation took over her completely until it was tiring just to keep her eyes open, and to no surprise, she fell asleep.

"What did you do?" Li asked, with blatant annoyance in his voice. Eriol just smiled.

"Oh nothing, I just had a look at the inner coils of her body is all. I also got a good look at her inner and outer aura. But, because my magic was a little too strong for her, it overwhelmed her body, and she fell asleep. She should be up in a couple minutes," Eriol explained. "Which gives us just enough time for your check-up."

"What do you think after you've seen her inner coils and aura?" the swordsman asked. Eriol turned his head, his carefree smile disappeared, and his eyes narrowed.

"This is not your ordinary girl," he replied, his voice very much deeper and softer than one he used before. "Especially not with the powerful magic I saw."

"I though as much. What did you see anyway?"

"It's hard to describe really. But the best way to put is, she has two auras."

"Two?"

"Yes, pink and white. The pink is obviously her normal aura, which is very powerful by itself. But the white is so powerful, I thought I would be thrown out of her body the very second I entered. Its intensity and sheer power is impossible to describe. It makes me wonder how she is able to live without knowing she has it. Have there been times that she's used it?"

"Yeah, and each time, she's done something even the most powerful of magicians would dream of doing."

"Allow me to see," With that, Eriol placed two fingers on Li's forehead and closed his eyes. "I see, so the white aura consumes her completely and she seems to become someone else."

"Yeah, something like that. But Eriol, that girl isn't the only reason I'm here. There's something else I want to know." But before Li could say, there was a knock at the door, which got Sakura to stir.

"What happened?" she wondered. "How did I fall asleep?"

"Excuse me, Hiiragizawa-san, there's someone here to see you," Tomoyo said from behind the door.

"Please tell them to come back later," Eriol replied, his voice back to the one he used earlier.

"I'm afraid they won't take that as an answer," the girl replied.

"Damn it Eriol open the door!" the person yelled, which made Li panic.

"You freakin' idiot! Don't tell _she's_ your maid!" he yelled grabbing Eriol by the collar.

"Okay, I won't tell you," the doctor replied with a chuckle. Li pounded his friend into floor, and quickly hid in the corner where the door would swing.

"Eh? Li, why are you hiding?" Sakura wondered. Li shushed her as Eriol went to open the door. But before he could, the door went flying off its hinges, and collided with the dark haired teen's forehead.

"Oh my," was all Tomoyo could say as she stood behind the stranger.

"Damn!" Kero exclaimed. "What a kick!"

Standing in the doorway was a girl, a couple years younger than Li and Eriol. She wore a pink Chinese dress, with matching pants on the bottom. She had black hair was black with ponytails at the back. Her ruby red eyes glaring at Eriol with pure anger and disgust. The young man just got up and greeted her with a smile.

"Ah, Meilin-chan. I see your back from the market." But Meilin just nailed him in the face with a kick.

"What have I told you about that 'chan' crap!" she yelled.

"Sorry, but it just has a cute ring to it," Eriol replied, earning himself another kick to the face. "Care to explain what you're so mad about?"

"I go to the market to pick up your stupid food, and what do I find? You smooth talking girls to come back here and cook for you! You're shameless, you disgusting womanizer!" Eriol just laughed it off.

"Is it really womanizing when they come to me? And besides I don't really do anything besides flatter them."

"Don't give me that bullshit! I came down from the mountains to be your damn servant, the least you could do is actually eat the food I make!"

"Oh, is that what this is about?" the doctor just laughed again. "I'm sorry Meilin-chan. I just prefer exotic dishes. And you can only get that by having your food cooked by different women." A vein popped on Meilin's head.

"What did I tell you about that 'chan' crap!" As the entire exchange was going on between the doctor and younger girl, Li was slowly making his way towards the doorway. Sakura and Tomoyo were too engrossed in the spat between the two to notice, but unfortunately for Li, Kero did.

"Hey kid! What are you doing sneaking away for? Don't want to see him get kicked again!" Kero yelled when Li was halfway down the hallway. The swordsman sprinted back and started to pound the beast into oblivion.

"You stupid stuffed animal! Can't you keep your goddamned mouth shut for once!" Meilin turned around to see what the racket was about, and her eyes brightened so much, they could have replaced the sun.

"Is it, really you.." she whispered, making her ways towards him. Li instantly backed up.

"Uh…no….I'm not the person you're thinking of….really!" But Meilin had already broken into a full-blown sprint.

"SYAORAN!"

"Oh shit."

Within a split second Meilin tackled Li to ground with her arms wrapped around his neck in a fierce and tight hug, that almost looked like a strangle hold.

"SYAORAN, SYAORAN, SYORAN!"

"Meilin, GET OFF OF ME!"

"See, would you look at that, she's so happy to see you," Eriol said. Li glared daggers at him and managed to get to his feet.

"You bastard!" he yelled wrapping his hands around the doctor's neck. "You knew this would happen didn't you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

"But look at the bright side, at least I was able to make Meilin's dream come true," Eriol replied cheerfully, even though he was being strangled.

"HER DREAM IS MY NIGHTMARE!"

"Oh yes. I guess I forgot."

"YOU BASTARD!"

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero sweatdropped as they watched the entire scene unfold. Eriol was being strangled by Li, who in turn was being strangled by Meilin, who was still attached to his neck with her strangle hug. As they watched only one thought was running through their heads,

"Are they really friends?"

Sakura couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard someone's neck snap.

OOOOO

Meanwhile at Viga's castle, a familiar burst of flames formed in the villain's throne room. The white haired man just laughed as Mudo walked out of the flames with the jewels in his hands.

"That was easier than I thought," the fire demon commented, as he handed the jewels to his master. "I even got to meet an old acquaintance again. It was really quite enjoyable."

"Glad you enjoyed yourself," Viga replied, and he placed the jewels in his cloak.

"Hey wait just minute!" Remina yelled. "I didn't see the Necklace of Kamikaze anywhere in his hull. Which means he must be keeping it for himself!" Mudo just scoffed.

"Don't make any false allegations when you can't even back them up."

"All right fine! But where's the Kamikaze Necklace hothead! Huh?"

"I see no need to answer to the likes of you," Mudo replied as he began to walk off. "Now if you'll excuse me I will be on my way."

"Mudo," Viga called. "I am aware that our little arrangement is only until you can free your comrades, make yourself stronger, but do not think you can play me as the fool." Mudo just smirked.

"I wouldn't think of it." With that, the fire demon disappeared in a burst of flames. Remina just groaned once he was gone.

"Arg! I can't stand hotshots like him who think they're so bad! He doesn't even realize he'd be dead if you weren't so merciful Master Viga."

"Master, do you really think it is wise to trust him?" Magura asked. "He seems like the type who follows no one, and lives by his own code." Viga chuckled.

"Yes, that might be true, but, it's people like him who make these little endeavors so interesting."

AN: Behold, the first chapter of season 2! New season means new characters! I've wanted to introduce Eriol and Meilin for such a long time now, and had a lot of ideas on how to introduce them. One was that they just appear out of nowhere, and help Li and the others get rid of an entire army of demons. But then I figured, having them just randomly show up wouldn't really fit, and I couldn't really think of a reason why they would show up so suddenly. So I had Li and others go to Eriol and Meilin show up later. I thought that idea worked best. Sorry this chapter took so long to get out, you have no idea how much homework I have every night. It's a fight just to get on the computer, and when I finally do, all I can type is a page or two before my dad makes me go to bed. (Sigh) Luckily, I didn't have any homework this weekend, so that meant plenty of time to type. So anyway, here's the preview of next chapter!

S_akura: Li, Eriol, and Meilin have such a weird relationship that it makes you wonder if they're really friends at all._

_Kero: Yeah, they're always hitting and yelling at each other until they're blue in the face, not exactly what I call childhood friends. _

_Tomoyo: Well, we're going to get a full look at how close they are when a band of demons attack Eriol's house. _

_Sakura: Oh no! We have to protect Eriol and Meilin! _

_Kero: Somehow I get the feeling they won't need it. _

_Sakura: Hoe? _

_Tomoyo: So join us for "Demonic Property Battle!" Next Seven Deadly Jewels. See you there! _


	52. Demonic Property Battle part 1

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 52

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero sweatdropped as they stood in the room as they watched Li and his friends. They had been strangling each other in their own way for the past twenty minutes already. They had to wonder how they could stand that long without air. Sakura would have intervened by now if she knew they would hear her. The yelling and ranting from Li, and the squealing from Meilin was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire mansion. The fact that Eriol kept shooting remarks to Li didn't help matters either. How Eriol could talk at all with Li's hands wrapped so tightly around his neck was another baffling mystery to Sakura and Tomoyo.

What exactly Li was so angry about, or why Meilin was clinging to him like her life depended on it was yet another mystery. The girls couldn't be sure what they were saying anymore because all the yelling, squealing, and smart remarks overlapped each other, making it near impossible to make out anything.

"Wow, no wonder the kid is so anti-social. With friends like this, they would drive me to swear off people forever to," Kero said.

"But still, should friends really act like this?" Tomoyo wondered. Kero just shrugged.

"Uh…guys," Sakura said to the hostile group in front of her. "Come on guys, you really shouldn't act like that."

"Don't waste your breath Sakura. Leave it to me," Kero said as he gathered his breath.

"Oh no," Tomoyo sighed and covered her ears, Sakura followed suit. They both knew how loud Kero could get for such a little thing.

"HEY! CUT IT OUT YOU BRATS!" the little beast bellowed, making everything quiet. "See, that's something only a great beast like me can do." Unfortunately for Kero, it was only quiet for a few seconds before he was hurled into a wall.

"Who are you calling a brat you yellow shit!" Meilin yelled. "Just what the hell is this thing anyway!"

"Oh my, such lungs Keroberos has," Eriol sighed as he rubbed his ears, rather than his neck, which Tomoyo saw as another odd thing. Meilin looked over to the recovering beast in disbelief.

"You mean this thing is Keroberos!" she exclaimed.

"Yep. Hard to believe isn't it," Li replied.

"You mean this thing looks like a bath sponge!" Kero was inches away from Meilin's face in a nanosecond.

"Bath sponge! You disrespectful little brat! I ought to transform and combust your ass right now!" A vein popped on Meilin's head.

"You just try it you damn bath sponge!" Sakura and Tomoyo sweatdropped again. Kero had succeeded in breaking up the friends, but now he was locked in an argument of his own. The second Sakura saw Kero's wings grow, she decided to step in the middle.

"Now, now Kero-chan. Li calls you stuffed animal all the time and you don't transform on him. You really shouldn't do that with a girl."

"This stupid girl called me a freakin' bath sponge Sakura! Compared to that stuffed animal is a term of endearment!" A large vein popped on Meilin's head as she growled deeply, enough to make a lion back down.

"What….did….you….call….me…..!" she said slowly. Sakura slowly slinked away when she felt the other girl's unbelievable killing intent.

"Uh oh," Eriol and Li muttered in unison.

"I called you a stupid girl! You got a problem with that?"

"OF COURSE I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT YOU SHITTY BATH SPONGE!"

"WELL I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOU, YOU DUMB BROAD!"

"OH THAT'S IT! YOU'RE FRIGGIN' DEAD!" Before Meilin could completely bum rush the beast, Eriol clapped his hands together, making the two freeze completely.

"All right, how about some tea everyone?"

"We just had tea moron," Li pointed out.

"But we have an extra guest, and I have a feeling we should sort everything out before we do anything else. Besides, if Meilin-chan, and Keroberos fought right now, the damage to my house would be terrible don't you think?" Eriol once again got a kick to his face from Meilin.

"How many times do I have to tell you to quit that 'chan' crap!" Li just smacked his forehead as he leaned against a wall.

"Why the hell did I come here?" is what he couldn't help but ask himself.

OOOOO

Ten minutes later they were all sitting in the lounge again with tea. They had somehow managed to get Meilin and Kero separate from each other so they would break out into a fight, but that didn't mean they weren't shooting glares at each other. But the glares were mostly on Kero's side, since Meilin attached herself to Li's arm, and absolutely refused to let go. It was a slight improvement from his neck, but Li wanted her stop all together, even though he knew that was impossible. By now his arm was completely numb.

"Now then, for a proper introduction," Eriol said motion over to Meilin. "That would be Meilin, Li's cousin…."

"Fiancé!" the girl corrected loudly, making Li grimace.

"Oh yes, forgive me. Fiancé," Eriol corrected

"Eh? You have a fiancé Li?" Sakura asked in awe. Li ignored her, and turned his annoyance to Meilin.

"I told you to forget that! Jeez how many times do I have to tell you!"

"What's the matter with us being engaged!" Meilin yelled back. "It's perfectly fine to me!"

"Well it has to be mutual, and it's far from mutual in my book!"

"Then I'll make you fall in love with me!" Li groaned loudly as he resisted the urge to pull out his hair. This girl was impossible. With a clearing of his throat, Eriol continued the introduction.

"And Meilin-chan," Eriol chuckled when he saw the intense glare from Meilin. "This is Kinomoto Sakura, Daidouji Tomoyo, and you've already met Keroberos. They've been traveling with Li up until now."

"Say what!" the ruby eyed girl yelled.

"Oh god," Li groaned smacking his forehead. "Why you have to go and say that you bastard! Do you have any idea what'll happen!"

"I have a vague idea," Eriol replied. Much to Eriol exceptions, Meilin stomped over to Sakura and Tomoyo and gave them her worst glare for the day.

"How dare you travel with my fiancé! I hope neither of you put your dirty hands on him! If you did I swear to god….!" But before she could continue, Li's sheath collided with her head. "Ow! What you do that for!"

"You're acting moronic," he annoyingly muttered.

"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized. "I didn't know Li was engaged."

"Don't go apologizing to this brat Sakura!" Kero yelled.

"What was that you bath sponge!"

"Again with the bath sponge!"

"Excuse me Meilin-san, and Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo piped up before they could go into an argument again. "But how do the two of you know Li?" The anger in Meilin's eyes disappeared, and was replaced with a blissful, dreamy look as he cheeks turned red.

"We've known each other since we were kids," Eriol answered. "It's a strange story really."

"But what a day it was," Meilin sighed. "It started as one of the worst days of my life, but he turned it into one the best!" Li smacked her with his sheath again.

"It wasn't that great. Besides, it was raining when we met. Obviously fate was trying to tell me something, but I didn't get the message," he muttered angrily.

"Now you two answer me something," Meilin started, the fire in her eyes already lit. "How is it that you managed to be traveling with my Li!" Sakura just sweatdropped, while Tomoyo giggled.

"That's an interesting story as well. I guess you could say it was purely accident," she replied. Before Tomoyo could go further, Eriol stood up as if he just remembered something.

"Ah! With all this fuss and excitement, I forgot. I still have to give your examination Li," Eriol said smiling mischievously. Li just sighed as he stood up.

"I'm coming you bastard," he muttered.

"Meilin, could you get dinner started. I have a feeling we'll be hungry once we finish." The younger girl glared daggers at the glasses wearing doctor, before stomping towards the kitchen.

"Let us help," Sakura offered, but Meilin yelled back,

"I don't need help! I'll win Li's heart with my cooking!" Said boy just sighed.

"You had better go help her anyway. She absolute sucks in the kitchen."

"That isn't a very nice thing to say about your childhood friend Li," Sakura scolded. Li just shrugged as he followed Eriol upstairs.

"It's true isn't?" Sakura and Tomoyo sighed when they heard a loud clatter and a string of even louder curses. They had their work cut out for them.

OOOOO

"So care to explain," Eriol muttered in a deep serious voice as he looked over a shirtless Li.

"Explain what?" The swordsman asked as Eriol inspected his arms.

"Care to explain how Sakura-san, and Daidouji-san somehow ended up with you. Because I recall you telling me that you'll always travel alone," Eriol tapped Li's knee to test his reflexes.

"Like they said, it was pure accident," he replied. "Besides, even if did say no, they probably would have followed me anyway, so I save myself the trouble." Eriol gave him a disbelieving chuckle.

"It's rather unlike you to give in to anybody. Especially two young girls. Lay down." Li did as he was told as he gave his answer.

"Don't take it the wrong way. I really just wanted to see how long they would last until they went home crying for their parents." Eriol chuckled again as he looked over his friend's legs.

"Obviously they haven't yet. And the fact they've made it this far with you must mean they're much stronger than you thought." Li just scoffed as he rolled over to show his back.

"Yeah right. They still complain about every damn thing."

"Are you sure about that?" With that Eriol fell silent as he continued the examination, leaving Li with his own thoughts. He wouldn't admit it, _ever_, but he had to say Sakura and Tomoyo had gotten stronger, well at least less annoying. When they had first started off he had to resist the serious urge to slash off their head every single morning. They would complain about waking up at the crack of dawn, complain about all the walking, Sakura would whine about how hard the training was, and Tomoyo would bitch about his so called 'cruel' treatment of Sakura.

But now, they would actually get up _before_ him to break camp, and bribe Kero into getting something for breakfast. Sakura still complains about her training, but not nearly as much, at least not enough for him to want to kill her. Now all he wants to do is smack her one, it was an improvement in his opinion. And the girls would actually prove useful in fights, much in contrast to their practically hiding behind him. Li just let out a groan before Eriol spoke up again.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, so much abuse you give your body. Some of these bones look like you fell from at least 50 feet!"

"That's actually a distinct possibility." Eriol shook his head. "So how's my back?"

"Besides horribly scarred?" Li shot the doctor a glare, silently telling him to get serious. Eriol sighed and granted his request with his deeper voice.

"Well the scars certainly haven't gotten better. And your aura is even more erratic than before. Just what have you been doing? And how many times have you used your lighting magic with the talisman?"

"A couple," Li muttered, making Eriol shake his head.

"You know what'll happen if you use too much. You should really focus on control yourself." Li gave him a look.

"You're one to talk about control, you damn hypocrite." The doctor just laughed as he rolled up his sleeves to revel two sliver cuffs around his wrists.

"Hey, hey, I'm working on it. But still Syaoran, all these built up wounds will seriously catch up to you. I mean any normal person would have been by now. That necklace really has saved you." Li fingered the crystal with a wistful look on his face.

"Yeah," he muttered. "So can you heal me?" Eriol's bright smile returned as he put his hands on his back.

"That's why I'm here."

OOOOO

Dinner was as Eriol would put it, an interesting experience. The spread was nothing really special, it was some simple soup, some bread, chicken, and some rice. But the kitchen seemed like there was a major battle. Pots, plates, and charcoal were everywhere. Pieces of food, and puddles of soup covered the counters, and there were silverware impaired in the wall. Eriol didn't really want to know what during the course of cooking, but another part of him really wanted to know. But judging from the tired look from Sakura and Tomoyo, and the angry look in Meilin's eyes told Eriol what he needed to know.

Once they were ready to eat, Kero all but dove in, stuffing his face like he hadn't eaten in weeks. Sakura had to wonder where he was putting it all. Meilin jumped at the chance to feed Li, who bluntly refused, but the girl wouldn't take no as an answer. She jumped on his lap practically forced fed the swordsman for the entire meal. Eriol couldn't help but smile brightly, even brighter than the smiles he had during the day, Tomoyo noticed. It was obvious to her he wasn't accustomed to such lively company for dinner.

In the middle of the meal, Sakura began the story of how she and Tomoyo joined up with Li, and all their adventures up until now. All throughout the story, Meilin kept shooting the two girls glares filled with jealously, and contempt. Sakura had to resist hiding behind Tomoyo. The ruby-eyed girl could be much scarier than any demon or ghost in her opinion.

Once the meal was finished, Eriol invited the group to stay since it had gotten so late, and would be midnight by the time they returned to town. Sakura and Tomoyo quickly agreed, excited they'd be able to spend the night in such a large house. Li just let out a tired sigh as Meilin clutched to his arm again in complete bliss.

OOOOO

It was early morning when Tomoyo was awakened by a sweet echoing sound. The dark haired girl got up and entered the long hallway on the third floor of the house. The sound seemed to be coming from the fourth floor. Tomoyo climbed the winding stairs to enter another long hallway. The sound came from the end of the hall. Tomoyo had long identified it as a piano. The girl opened the door to see who the player was, and her eyes widened at the sight.

In the morning sunlight was Eriol playing a smooth gentle melody on a large black piano. The doctor eyes were closed, and seemed to relaxed as his hands flowed with grace as he pressed the keys. Tomoyo leaned against a wall and allowed herself to be spellbound by the music. A loud relaxed sigh escaped her lips as the notes circled around her, slowing her heart, and making whatever unconscious tensions she had disappear completely. The girl was so taken away by the music that she didn't even notice when the music stopped.

"I see you like music," Eriol spoke up, breaking her out of the trance.

"Oh yes. Very much." Eriol smiled at her as he ran his fingers along the keys.

"That's good. It's good to see someone enjoying it so much," the doctor chuckled again as he started up a new tune. "Actually I'm relieved. This is the first time in a long while that I've played. I thought I would be rusty."

"You haven't played in a while?" Tomoyo repeated. "But you have such a talent? Why would you stop?"

"I just lost the inspiration," he whispered as the melody took form into a song Tomoyo knew.

"In the moonlight I felt your heart

Quiver like a bowstring's pulse

In the moon's pure light, you looked at me

Nobody knows your heart," she sang beautifully, making Eriol stop playing in amazement.

"You know that song?" Tomoyo nodded.

"My mother would sing it to me almost every night. I practically know it by heart. How do you know it Hiiragizawa-san?"

"My sister taught it to me," he whispered as he started to play again. Tomoyo couldn't help but notice the wistful almost regretful look in his eyes. She decided to not say anything. Eriol passed his finger across the keys as his smile returned. "Enough of that, I'm sure you hungry. I'll go make breakfast."

"ERIOL HIIRAGIZAWA!" a loud voice boomed.

"Oh my, aren't I popular these past two days," Eriol chuckled as went to answer the door. By the time he reached the door the others were already awake, wondering who the heck would be yelling at this hour.

"Damn it, and I was having great dream too!" Kero groaned.

"Sorry," Eriol apologized, opening the door. "I'll settle this quickly." A tall bulky man with his body covered by a black cloak met the young man. The look of annoyance, and his gritted teeth was enough proof he wasn't a patient.

"Eriol Hiiragizawa," the man repeated, his gritted teeth turning into an odd smile.

"Oh, if it isn't Mr. Kirto!" Eriol greeted. "What can I do for you?" His already small eyes narrowed into small dots in annoyance.

"You already know what I'm here for! So don't play dumb!"

"Huh?" Kirto smacked his forehead with his large hand.

"You fool! You know I want your property! I gave you three full days to think about it! And today is the promised day! What is your answer!"

"Ohhhh! That!" Eriol snapped his fingers as if he just remembered. "My answer is the same as when you first came to me with that idea."

"You're a bigger fool than I thought!"

"Hiiragizawa-san, what's going on?" Sakura asked worriedly. Eriol smiled as if nothing serious was happening.

"Oh nothing. Everyone, this is Mr. Kirto. A demonic bandit leader, and quite the famous one as I've heard," the doctor introduced like he was good friend. "Apparently since he and his gang was chased from the mountains, he wants to use my house as his new base of operations. I was given only three days to respond." Kirto gritted his teeth.

"Stop playing around! My patience is wearing thin! What is your answer!"

"Like I said my friend, no," Eriol replied. Kirto just laughed, and snapped his fingers.

"I knew you would say something like that! Which why I came prepared!" With that, the entire field was covered with countless, fierce looking bandits, armed with weapons. "Now what is your answer!" Eriol whistled in amazement.

"Wow! So many people for my little old house? I should feel honored!" Kirto obviously had more than he could take with Eriol.

"All right! That's it! I gave you a decent chance, but now we do this my way! Men! Charge the house! Kill all inside!" Without a second word, the bandits charged the doctor's house like a castle. Sakura and Li quickly jumped in front, along with a transformed Kero.

"Hiiragizawa-san, Meilin-san, please stay inside with Tomoyo," Sakura instructed, only to be met with a laugh, which confused the young girl.

"We were about to tell you the same thing Sakura-san," Eriol chucked as he stepped in front of her. "It is my house, I should be the one to protect it."

"Yeah, just stay back," Meilin said as she stepped up.

"But there's so many! You can't handle them alone!" Sakura pointed out. Eriol just waved her off.

"Leave it to us." The girl turned to Li, who just motioned for her to stay back. She just sighed and stepped back with Tomoyo. "How many would you say there are?"

"I'd say about 600," Li replied as he drew his sword.

"So 200 for each of us eh? Just like old times," Eriol sighed as he reached into his shirt, to pull out a small key. Meilin smirked as she cracked her knuckles and neck.

"This is great! I've been feeling rusty for a while now! And even better, I get to fight with Syaoran again!"

"Ready…." Li started as he shifted into a stance.

"Set….." Eriol continued as the key bean to glow. Once the demon bandits were almost inches from them, Meilin yelled the signal.

"GO!" With that they split into three streaks that ran though the approaching group in three different directions. The girls' eyes widened in shock at the speed of the three. Once they reformed, all those they passed collapsed like rocks.

"Wow," was all Sakura could think to say. But her shock and amazement was replaced with concern when she realized they had separated. "Oh no! They're easy targets now!" But the three didn't look concerned, in fact, they looked almost excited.

"Hey Syaoran!" Eriol called as the bandits surrounded him. "Want to play the game?" Li let out a groan as he went into a stance as another group surrounded him.

"Fine," he muttered. "Loser gets no dinner!" Meilin let out a confident laugh even as more bandits surrounded her.

"This will be no problem for me then!"

"Hey!" one of the bandits yelled. "You shouldn't be worry about wining your little game! You should be worried about living to see tomorrow! Let's get them boys!"

"Oh brother…." The three sighed at once, just as they were completely engulfed by the bandits.

"Oh no!" Sakura exclaimed.

"They'll be killed for sure!" Tomoyo gasped. But their fears were put to rest when the bandits suddenly flew though the air, and started to fall like rocks. A burst of flying back bandits revealed Meilin's legs spinning and flailing about like a helicopter as she spun on her hands.

With Eriol, a long spinning golden staff that seemed to appear out of thin air threw the bandits that attacked the attack back. Once he stopped spinning the staff, they saw it was about as tall as he was. The odd design of the sun at the top. And of course, Li's bunch fell because of deep sword wounds.

"That's 60!" Eriol announced.

"Damn! I only got 43!" Meilin groaned.

"36," Li muttered.

"From the looks of things, you'll be starving all night," Eriol chuckled. Li just smirked as he shifted into a another stance.

"Don't worry, there's still plenty more. The game just started after all."

"Oh yeah!" Meilin said excitedly. "This will be fun!"

"Well let's not delay any longer. Shall we?" The other two nodded with smirks.

"All right."

"Let's go!" As Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero watched as they became fast streaks again, they couldn't help but wonder,

"Who are these guys?"

AN: Eh, not exactly what I envisioned for this chapter, but at least it makes the next chapter completely fight oriented. The current fight was originally supposed to be only this chapter, but I put too much in this chapter, and have to extend it to the next, but it's okay. You've probably noticed the fast update, well that's because I had a day off today. Yep I wrote this chapter in one day's time. A couple reasons for that. One, I didn't have any homework, and decided to get this chapter out before I was tied down by homework again. Two, this fight has been in a head for the longest time, and found it very easy to write since I knew exactly to put in it. Only problem is, I wanted to put too much in one chapter. And three, like I said, it was easy to write. Hopefully next chapter will be just as quick and easy since it's going to be one of my favorite chapters. So without further ado, here's the preview for next chapter!

_Sakura: Wow! Eriol and Meilin are just amazing! The two of them along with Li are blowing apart the bandits as if they're nothing! _

_Tomoyo: And they each have their own amazing ability too! It seems if you want to be Li's friend you'll have to be able look after and defend yourself, since you'll obviously be fighting about. _

_Kero: HA! They're still nothing compared to me though! _

_Sakura: But before it can be written off as a complete win, they'll have to beat Kirto's two best officers and Kirto himself. _

_Meilin: Keh! No problem! _

_Tomoyo: So be sure to join us for "Demonic Property Battle part 2!" See you there! _


	53. Demonic Property Battle part 2

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 53

Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero watched in awe as another large group of bandits fell to only three fighters. The girls' mouths hung open as the sky began raining with the bandits, who received the full blasts and Li and other's attacks. And what the girls found even stranger was that the three fighters were having fun. As if it was nothing more than a game.

"HA! That makes 95!" Meilin exclaimed as she pushed herself up from her handstand. "Beat that Eriol!" The doctor just smirked as another large set of bandits went flying from his staff.

"I already have 106. You're falling behind Meilin-chan." The girl just growled and sent an incoming bandit flying into his recovering comrades like a bowling ball, with just one nonchalant kick.

"Damn it! I'll never catch up at this rate!" Her attention was shifted from the screams of another set of unfortunate bandits.

"102," Li announced, wiping the blood from his sword.

"Nothing less from Syaoran!" Meilin squealed running towards him, obviously forgetting about the bandits. The remaining thugs saw this as well, and took this as an opportunity to attack the girl, who had her back to them.

"Meilin-san look out!" Sakura yelled. With no effort whatsoever, Meilin's foot slammed into one of the bandit's chests, making him collide with the incoming others. Meilin whirled around in time to see twenty more bandits, who had recovered from Eriol's staff, rush at her. Within seconds they were on the ground nursing new bruises as Meilin pushed up from her handstand.

"HA! Too easy!" she declared. "How much more is that? Like 37?" Eriol just chuckled as he sent another group flying with his staff.

"I don't think guys that have already been beaten once count." The cheerful doctor slammed his staff into the chest of one of the thugs, whirled around, and spun his staff, making even more bandits fly back.

"What!" Meilin yelled. "That's no fair! Who came up with that stupid rule!"

"You did," the boys answered in unison.

"Well now forget it!" she yelled kicking another bandit in anger. "What a dumb rule!" Li and Eriol sighed as they watched the girl kick at conscious and unconscious bandits in her anger.

"She's so short-tempered," Li sighed.

"Your one to talk," Eriol chuckled.

"What was that!"

"See what I mean?" Li growled and looked away earning a laugh from Eriol. "Now there's only a couple left. I suggest you put your all in this last set if you want to win."

"No problem. I just hope your stomach is ready for a night of starvation," the swordsman smirked. The two nodded at each other, and rushed towards the final bunch of bandits.

"Hey!" Meilin yelled. "No fair you bastards!" The girl quickly followed after them, determined to win their little competition.

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero could not believe what they were seeing. In a matter of minutes an entire force of 600 bandits were defeated by three teenagers, who, as it seemed were hardly putting any effort into it. It was just a big game to them.

"They're just amazing aren't they," Tomoyo whispered to Sakura, who could nod as she watched the three pick apart the last bunch of bandits like they were nothing.

"I don't think Kirto can believe it either," Sakura said as she looked over to the leader, whose jaw was practically on the ground. An odd doctor and his two argumentative friends defeated his entire force with complete ease! What was this world coming too?

"Im….Impossible…..!" he muttered. His attention was caught when one of his men grabbed his leg.

"Master…..help….me….." he cried weakly, but his only reply came in the form of a fist square in his face.

"You're worthless," he growled. "You're all worthless! How in the hell did you morons lose to a bunch of damn kids! Is there one competent bandit among you bastards!"

"Don't worry boss," a calm voice said from behind him. "We'll handle them."

"Yeah, yeah, and when we're done with them, I'll have their blood for my drink!" a sadistic, insane voice said excitedly. Kirto turned around and smirked.

"I'd expect nothing less from you two," the bandit leader smirked. Behind him were two men, one was tall with short black hair with gray pants and jacket with a green shirt beneath. On the back of his jacket was a skull with a sword going through its head. Behind him was a short blonde who was crouching on all fours like an animal. There was an insane look in his small black pupils as he pulled out his sword from his blue gi. Eriol looked on at the two new comers and smiled.

"Looks like the main meat as arrived."

"'Main meat?'" Li repeated in disgust. "What the hell are you some sort of weird meat lover? Where'd you get something that lame?"

"From a book, I thought it was a nice phrase." Li slapped his forehead.

"This is proof that whatever you like turns out to be completely stupid." Eriol pouted.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to say, Syao-kun." Li quickly reprimanded the doctor with a fist in his face. Tomoyo and Sakura just sweatdropped at the scene. Two guys their opponent had absolute confidence in show up, and they still couldn't stop fighting each other.

"So just who are you guys?" Eriol rubbing his surpassingly un-bruised face.

"Iron Ball Tsume," the tall one replied.

"Mole," the short one said as he bit into his own hand.

"We're Kirto's officers, so we're going to be a hell of a lot tougher than the pussies you guys beat," Tsume said confidently. Mole looked over to Li, who just gave him a glare. The insane bandit let out a crazed yell as he pointed to Li.

"I don't like the way you're looking at me! I'll gorge your eyes out right now!" With a single jump, Mole was nose to nose with Li in a matter of seconds. The young man quickly jumped back, barely dodging the slash.

"Damn! Fast little bastard!" he exclaimed. Eriol and Meilin back up to where Sakura and Tomoyo were. "Where the hell do you're going!"

"This is clearly your fight now Syaoran! Please don't lose!" Eriol said. "We'll just be over here where it's safe!"

"You bastard!" Li's attention was shifted when he heard a loud yell. He whirled his around just in time to dodge another slash from Mole, who jump again for another chance. Li ducked, and nailed the small man in the chest with strong kick. Mole flipped to feet and let out an animalistic growl.

"Just for that, I'm going to skin you once your eyeballs are gone!" Mole placed his sword in between his mouth, and got down on all fours. Within seconds the bandit launched himself at the swordsman, making himself like a bullet. Li quickly jumped in the air, but Mole slid against the ground, and launched himself upwards. The bandit appeared above the swordsman, and in a flash brought down his sword. Li managed to block, and pushed his opponent's sword out of the way, and connected with a strong punch. Li raised his leg and slammed it against Mole's head, making him crash into the ground.

"Nice one!" Meilin cheered. "You nailed that bastard!" But Li couldn't help but feel uneasy at the hole Mole made when he crashed. He looked over to Eriol, who shared the same look as he did. When the swordsman landed he looked around, searching for his opponent.

"You fool," Tsume chuckled. "You just put Mole in his playground." Li raised his eyebrow. "Why do you think his name is Mole?"

"Bad taste in names?" Eriol piped up.

"I was going to say they lacked creativity," Tomoyo said.

"Well there's that too," Eriol agreed.

"Shut up!" Li yelled. "I can't sense his aura with you chatting your damn mouth off!" At that moment Li's foot was grabbed from below. The young man looked down just in time to see the bandit's head burst up from the ground.

"Here I am!" Mole's sword shot towards Li's stomach, who tried to jump back, but the bandit's grip was so strong, he fell on his back. Mole stood over the swordsman and raised his sword over his head in a stabbing position. "First your eyes!" The young man moved his head out of the way, and slammed his forehead against Mole's nose, making him stumble off of him. Li got up and rushed for his sword, but Mole was quickly gaining at his heels. The bandit leapt into the air for another attack, but Li grabbed his sword and thrust into the air.

Mole didn't have a chance to dodge. Li pulled out his sword and wiped off the blood with a smirk.

"Troublesome little bastard," he muttered as he went to rejoin his friends. Tsume growled as he reached into his jacket.

"You had better not lose," Kirto growled at him. Tsume nodded, and walked onto the unofficial battlefield.

"I dare any of you to try that with me." Meilin smirked and cracked her knuckles as she went to meet the challenge.

"I'll take him," she said simply, cracking her neck along the way. "I've been wanting a one-on-one for a while."

"Be careful Meilin-chan. He's not like that Mole fellow," Eriol warned, which only earned him a glare. "Okay…. never mind then."

Tsume just laughed as he pulled out two very short sticks, about two inches each. He twirled them around his hands as he looked over Meilin.

"You must be kidding! My opponent is this foolish girl! HA! Why do you just give me a puppy to kick? What's wrong girl? Where's your dress and fan? Shouldn't you be looking for an engagement or something? Or learning how to cook? A pathetic girl like you is no match of me!" Li and Eriol slapped their foreheads as an extremely large vein popped on Meilin's head as a just as large killing intent radiated from her body.

"I'M…. GONNA…. KILL…. YOU!" Tsume just laughed as his two sticks suddenly extended into two, two feet long staffs with a large iron ball at the top of each one. Meilin raised her eyebrows, but shifted into a stance.

"I'd like to see you try little girl." The vein on Meilin's head finally exploded as she dashed towards her opponent. The girl started the fight with a fast straightforward sidekick, but Tsume easily dodged. The girl pushed off from her support leg and twisted into a airborne round kick. Tsume ducked under the kick, and swung his mace towards the girl's back. Meilin shout out her foot behind her, stopping the incoming iron ball. Tsume swung with his other mace, making Meilin jump back.

"Give up little girl, you don't stand a chance against me," the iron ball bandit said as he began to twirl his maces. Meilin just spat at his feet. "Fine then. Die!" With that Tsume dashed towards Meilin with his maces spinning faster than ever. The black blur of the iron spheres were so fast, that the girl almost didn't dodge when Tsume attacked. Meilin used a cartwheel to avoid the downward blow of Tsume's iron ball, and stayed in her handstand position to slam her leg onto the bandit's skull, making him collapse to the ground. But on his way down, he whirled around and his black sphere collided with Meilin's ribs. Both the girl and the bandit flew off in different directions and landed with loud thuds.

"Ouch," Sakura winced. "That looked like it hurt. For both of them." Eriol just chuckled.

"Well it should. Meilin isn't like other fighters at all."

"What do you mean? Does she have a lot of magic or something?" Sakura asked. Eriol laughed while Li just gave a sarcastic snort. Sakura gave them a clueless look.

"Meilin has no magical powers whatsoever. She doesn't even have a sixth sense to sense auras." Sakura and Tomoyo gave the doctor bewildered looks. "How has she gotten this far you ask? Well….fortunately, this girl was so stubborn and determined to fight by Li's side and prove she can still be an effective fighter, that she completely devoted herself to training in the martial arts. The result….."

"Her kick has the same amount of power as ten horses," Li finished.

"Are you serious?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Is that even possible?" Tomoyo asked. Eriol laughed again.

"Of course it is!" he replied. "Just look." At that moment, Meilin got to her feet clutching her left ribs that were completely broken. Tsume managed to get to his feet as well, but his legs were barely keeping him standing.

"Damn," the ruby-eyed girl muttered. "I must have held back too much on that last kick."

"I refuse to be defeated by a weak girl!" Tsume declared.

"Says the guy who's barely standing," Meilin scoffed.

"Silence!" the bandit yelled, rushing towards Meilin. The kung-fu girl whipped out her leg in a fast round kick, but Tsume blocked it with his mace. Meilin winced in pain as her foot collided with the metal of the weapon, making her freeze for a split second. Tsume smirked, seeing this as his chance, and thrust out his other iron sphere into her stomach. Meilin flew back four feet as blood gushed out of her mouth.

"Damn it," the girl muttered as she struggled to get up. She was on her hands and knees when Tsume suddenly appeared at her side, and raised his two maces.

"Die!" With that, the bandit let his maces drop towards the girl's spine. At that moment, Meilin spat in his face, making him pause for a fast second, giving her the opportunity to slam her foot in the bandits face. The mace-welding thug flew back twenty feet before his body began to drop to the ground, but before he could reach, Meilin suddenly appeared below him, and kicked him further upwards in the air.

"Now take this!" she yelled as she back flipped into the air, positioning herself directly over the airborne bandit. "Triple Dragon Twister!" At that moment, Meilin brought her feet together and spun faster than any of them had even seen before. She slammed into Tsume's stomach like a drill, making the bandit spit out gallons worth of blood before he crashed into the ground.

"Dumb girl…." He whispered, Meilin gave him a swift kick to his face to shut him up.

"Well I just happen to be the dumb girl who kicked your ass," she scoffed, and climbed out of the hole. "Damn bastard busted my ribs!"

"Amazing," Sakura said in awe.

"See, you dumb stuffed animal. That's what would have happened to you," Li pointed out to the shocked beast.

"M-m-maybe so. But she's still nothing compared to me!" Kero exclaimed.

"Yeah right."

Kirto gritted his teeth, and completely destroyed the rock he was sitting with one punch. His entire band of bandits defeated by three kids! Kids! Kids who weren't even taking it seriously! Mole, killed by some rookie swordsman who probably just got lucky! And Tsume defeated by a girl, a girl of all people! The leader let out a loud yell before ripping off his cape, revealing his thick golden armor. If you want something done, do it yourself.

"ARGG! I AM TAKING THIS LAND AND NO MERE CHILDREN ARE GOING TO STOP ME!" Eriol laughed as he walked onto the battlefield.

"Looks like it's my turn." he said with a smile.

"So you're the first to fall by my hands eh?"

"Yes. So please go easy on me Mr. Kirto." Kirto chuckled darkly as he cracked his knuckles. In terms of size, he towered over Eriol. The young doctor barely made it to his hip, and from the looks of his thin stature, he had no muscle power whatsoever. This would an easy win in Kirto's eyes.

"Since you didn't really do anything, I'll make your death quick and painless." Eriol's smile didn't waver at all instead he just bowed.

"Thank you, because in the end, isn't that all what we wish for?" Kirto just scoffed at the cheerful doctor in front of him. He made a silent vow to wipe that smile clean off his face.

"All right then! LET'S GO!" With that, the massive man hurled his fist towards the doctor, who made no effort to defend or dodge. Kirto smirked; the kid must have had a death wish. But right before the fist hit its target, Eriol suddenly vanished. "What!"

"Over here!" Eriol called. Kirto whirled around to find the teen standing behind him. The leader attacked with another punch, but Eriol disappeared again. This time, he whistled to get the bandit's attention. He was now about three feet to Kirto's right. The doctor let out a chuckle as he heard Kirto's growl of frustration before he charged towards him. Eriol disappeared again, but Kirto couldn't him anywhere this time.

"Where are you!" he yelled. Suddenly, something tapped him on his head. Kirto looked up only to find Eriol standing on his shoulder with that stupid smile still on his face.

"Hi!" he waved. The bandit swung upwards, but Eriol once again disappeared. But this time he reappeared inches away from Kirto's face. "Boo!" The bandit impulsively went to punch the doctor, but right before the fist landed, Eriol vanished again, and Kirto's fist slammed into his face.

"Damn it!" he yelled, clutching his face on his knees.

"Why are you hitting yourself?" Eriol asked innocently, as he stood over the bandit. Kirto growled deeply before lunging towards the teenager, only to fall back on the ground when he vanished again. Li slapped his forehead as he watched his friend's antics.

"I'm not sure what's more pathetic, the so called great bandit falling for Eriol's every trick, or Eriol completely beating him without lifting a finger."

"Either way, Eriol is making him look like an idiot," Meilin said.

"Hiiragizawa-san is just playing around right?" Sakura asked. Meilin just scoffed.

"Of course. Why would he waste any of his power on this moron?" The spectators attention to the fight was reestablished when they heard another savage yell from the bandit leader, who had just swung and missed again.

"I'm over here," Eriol called from behind him. Kirto swung behind him, but stopped just as the doctor disappeared. The second he reappeared in front of him, Kirto's fist collided with the doctor's face, making him fly back into the wall of his own house.

"Oh no!" Sakura exclaimed. She was sure she saw the doctor's neck twist all the way around as he flew back. She began to run over to check to see if she could do anything, but Li grabbed her wrist. "Li! What are you doing! He's hurt! Aren't you concerned at all?"

"No. He's fine, look." Sakura looked over to the rubble, and saw Eriol get up as if nothing happened. But from the look of his body, something indeed happened. His neck was indeed in a position that told Sakura it was broken, and so was his right arm. Blood was coming out from his forehead, and from the looks of things, his left arm was completely dislocated. But what struck Sakura as odd was, despite all of that, he was still smiling.

"Oh my," he chuckled. "Quite the punch you have there."

"How can he smile after all that?" she asked. "In fact, how is he still standing?" Her question was answered with Eriol snapped his neck back in place, relocated his shoulder, and repositioned his right arm so it wasn't broken. And to top it off, the bleeding on his forehead stopped entirely.

"Impossible!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "How did he do that? Some sort of healing spell?"

"Something like that," Li shrugged. "I don't really get it myself either, but, ever since he was a kid every time some of blow or injury occurred to him, his body just instantly healed itself within seconds. Almost as if its automatic." Sakura and Tomoyo's eyes widened in awe, if they hadn't witnessed this occurrence, they never would have believed it.

"But… how…?" was all Sakura managed to say. Li just shrugged.

"He's always been weird." The fight continued when Eriol held up his staff.

"Looks like I'll have to use this after all." Kirto just scoffed.

"I don't know what the hell that staff means, but there's no way I'm going to let you come close enough to use it!" With that, the two breastplates of his armor opened, and began firing rapidly extremely sharp stakes. "Let's see you avoid these!" The firing speed of the stakes was very similar to that of a Gatling gun, impossible to even see the projectiles, let alone dodge, but Eriol still had his smile.

"I see no need to dodge," the doctor said simply as he started to spin his staff. The projectiles were instantly knocked off course upon hitting the staff, which made Kirto fire more, and at a faster pace. But no matter how many, or how fast he fired, they couldn't hit Eriol, who had made his spinning staff into a shield as he made his towards the bandit.

"Damn it!" he growled. The bandit reached into his armor and pulled out a small stick that extended into a spear that was just as tall and massive as he was.

"Oh dear, that's never good," Eriol said looking over the spear when stopped spinning his staff. Kirto smirked as he started to spin his weapon wildly.

"Let's see you stop my infamous Battle Spear!"

"Battle spear? That's a creative title," the doctor chuckled.

"SLIENCE!" the leader bellowed, and slammed his spear towards Eriol. The doctor instantly dodged, but just as quickly realized his mistake when he was hurled back by a powerful explosion. Just as he was recovering, Kirto appeared over him and swung the spear again. Eriol vanished again, but Kirto pivoted on his foot, and swung behind him. Just as Eriol reappeared, he received a direct hit from both the blade of the spear, and the explosion.

"That idiot!" Li growled.

"Quit messing around Eriol!" Meilin yelled at the smoke. Kirto just laughed.

"Your friend is dead! He took a direct hit from my Battle Spear, which is filled from head to base of gun powder that explodes on impact!" The bandit leader's laugher subsided when the smoke cleared, to reveal a now shirtless Eriol. But what had the bandit leader shocked, not only him, but the others was well, was not that he survived, it was what was on his entire upper body.

Eriol's upper body was covered with seals, symbols, talismans, and other kinds of writing all woven together by some extremely odd and confusing pattern. Sakura couldn't for the life of her begin to follow that odd pattern, but it seemed to start from a rather large symbol in the middle of his back and ended at his heart. On Eriol's wrists were two sliver cuffs, almost like shackles that radiated with some odd power that went along with the strange writing on the doctor's body. But rather than making him stronger, the power was making him weaker.

"Just what the hell are you!" Kirto yelled.

"Li, just what is that?" Li just shot her a look that she knew meant not to ask. Sakura looked over to Tomoyo, who seemed to have the question burned into her head as well. Eriol waved his staff, and the rags that were his shirt floated towards him, and reformed back into his shirt.

"Never mind that," the doctor replied, his voice flat before he broke out into smiles again. "I have to beat you remember? Now about that spear."

"HA! With the sharp blade, and the explosives there is no way you can get past my Battle Spear! And even if you did, there is no way you would be able to harm me! My armor is one of thickest in the country, no man can penetrate it!" The bandit looked over at his young opponent who was digging out his ear with his pinky.

"Such a loud voice you have there. I think I'm deaf in this ear now. And would it kill you to bush your teeth at least once a day?" Kirto growled and charged with his spear thrust out.

"Shut up!" he yelled.

"So with that spear, as long as I touch it, I'm going to get hurt right? So looks like I'll have to avoid touching it."

"And just how will you manage that?" The leader's question was answered when something suddenly wrapped around the spear blade. The object pulled the spear out of the bandit's hand; Eriol spun into Kirto's path, and slammed his palm into the golden armor. The bandit slid back and ran his hands along the struck area.

"See, I got to you without touching the spear," Eriol replied. In his hands was his staff, but not like it was before. It was divided into three sections connected by a chain, a three section staff.

"What the hell just happened?"

"You see my staff can be whole, or I can make it into a three-section staff that can extend and shrink according to my will. How I got past your spear was simple. I just made the first two sections wrap around the blade, pull it, and then turn into an attack range." Kirto just laughed.

"Like your little attack did anything! It didn't get anywhere near penetrating my armor!" Eriol smiled mischievously.

"Maybe it did, maybe it didn't." Kirto growled before reaching into his cloak and grabbing what a looked like a large smoke ball.

"I've had enough of this! I'm through playing around you! I am going to end this once and for all with my Poison Ball 65!"

"Eh?"

"This poison is so powerful it even penetrates the skin, so if you do hold your breath you'll still be poisoned, the effects are long and painful, and to top it off, this bomb with cover this entire area with the poison! Good luck avoiding this!"

"Oh dear."

"Now! Farewell you brat! Poison Bal 65!" With that Kirto hurled the bomb and placed a gas mask over his face with a dark smile. Kero quickly grabbed the others and flew into the air, but Eriol didn't move.

"What's he doing? Why isn't he moving?" Tomoyo wondered.

"Move you moron!" Li yelled. Eriol looked up with a smile just as the ball exploded and the entire area was covered with green smoke. The heat of the gas was close to unbearable, and just the general air of it burned Li's nose. Just by being around it he could feel the air from his lungs escape his body, his throat swelled up, and he could feel a slight increase in his temperature.

Sakura thrust out her hands and blew away the green smoke, to reveal the grass that had once been lively green had become a dead brown. The knocked out bandits' bodies were completely wrinkled like raisons, and their skin practically stuck to their bones. Those who were still conscious coughed up pints of blood and gasped frantically for breath. And in the center of this was their so-called leader, kicking at those who came at him for an antidote. But what had the group looking around was, they couldn't find Eriol. Kirto seemed to notice this as well as he tried to locate the doctor.

"How did he escape? There is absolutely no way he could have used that teleporting trick! And that dumb staff couldn't have helped either!"

"On the contrary. It actually worked wonders." Kirto looked down and saw Eriol submerged in the bandit's shadow like it was water. "Hi!"

"HOW THE HELL-!" But Kirto didn't have a chance to finish since Eriol knocked him into the air with his staff. The doctor jumped up and hit his staff against the leader's face to make his back horizontal to the ground.

"Time to finish this!" he declared.

"HA! As if! My armor is impenetrable! There is no way your little staff can harm me!" But Kirto was proven dead wrong when Eriol slammed his staff into the golden armor, and shattered it to pieces.

"Too bad." The master bandit crashed deep into the ground and was knocked out instantly. "Looks like I get to keep this house after all." Kirto struggled to get up, but it took all his strength to even lift his head.

"How…. did…. you…"

"Well it's simple really. Remember when I got passed that Battle Spear of yours? Well my attack was really a spell. It transformed your armor into a thinner and lighter metal, which was why I was able to knock you into the air. And how I escaped your poison bomb? I used a simple spell that allowed me to submerge myself in the shadows. It wasn't hard at all." The doctor explained with a good hearty laugh.

"Why…. didn't…you…. kill…. me?"

"I'm a doctor," Eriol replied in complete seriousness. "I save lives, not take them." Kirto let out one last grunt before his head dropped as he fell into unconsciousness.

"He did all of that within seconds," Sakura could help but whisper in awe.

"And he fought as if it was one big show," Tomoyo added. Who were these people? One with sword skills, and strange powers that surpassed everything she had heard in stories, a girl with a kick of superhuman strength, and a doctor with amazing powers. The world was truly a large place for such people to exist.

"I told you he was weird," Li replied with a scoff. Eriol looked up at the onlookers and smiled.

"Who wants tea?"

OOOOO

Sakura collapsed on the bed in Yukito's house. After restocking them with some supplies and pinpointing where the stolen jewels were located, they were in the north; Eriol sent them off with a smile. Of course it took a lot more to get Meilin off of Li's arm. Eriol had to hit her with a sleep spell before they could go.

She had an eye popping three days. Yukito was some sort of human form of the moon guardian, who had some weird connection with Mudo, one of the most powerful demons she had ever seen before. And to top it all off, she met Li's childhood friends who were just as powerful as he was. While it may seem like they argued and yelled at each other all the time, she could sense the deep bond between them something that words couldn't really describe. It was similar to what she and Tomoyo had.

Watching them fight together was just amazing. She couldn't help but wonder, would she ever get that strong? The thoughts and possibilities of what she could do with that kind of power accompanied her as she drifted into sleep. Although, they did mostly revolve around beating up Touya for all those monster remarks.

OOOOO

The next morning, the group decided to disembark. Fujitaka, Touya, and Yukito were there to see them off. Fujitaka had made them meals to last at least a month, or a week knowing Kero's appetite.

"Be careful. And don't talk to anyone you don't know," her father said half jokingly.

"I know dad. I'll be sure to write you," Sakura replied taking the meals.

"It feels like I barely spent anytime with you at all," Yukito sighed. "Oh well, the next time we see each other, I'll be sure we spend plenty of time together, okay Sakura-chan?" Sakura's face became tomato as she nodded shyly.

"Keep my sister out of trouble," Touya glared at Li, who just shot one back.

"Yeah, yeah, and be sure to get that sister complex of yours under control as well."

"What was that you brat!"

"Who are you calling a brat!"

"Well it's obviously you, you kid," Kero chirped in.

"Shut up you damn stuffed animal!" The other laughed as they triple threat began, but was cut off by Li suddenly getting tackled.

"Syaoran! Don't leave without me!" a very familiar voice squealed.

"Sorry. She broke her leash two meters ago," another familiar voice chuckled.

"Meilin! Eriol! What the hell are you guys doing!" the bewildered swordsman yelled.

"We're coming with you of course!" Meilin yelled back as if it was obvious. "You suddenly disappear for two years, now that you come back you're leaving again? Hell no! I'm coming with you this time!" Li narrowed his eyes before sighing, when Meilin was like this, he didn't even bother trying to argue.

"What's your excuse?" he muttered at Eriol.

"Well I've been stationary for so long now. I could use my fair share of adventure. Plus, I need to keep you in check."

"Thanks," Li sarcastically replied.

"But what about your house Hiiragizawa-san?" Sakura asked. Eriol held up a small crystal ball that had his massive house locked within.

"It's right there. Oh and since we're traveling together, you can drop the formalities Sakura-chan. I don't mind."

"Sure Hiiragizawa, I mean Eriol-kun." Eriol instantly smiled.

"Now that has a nice ring to it." Li smacked him over his head.

"Don't get too excited." Fujitaka just smiled at his daughter's companions. He knew he had nothing to worry about, she and Tomoyo were good hands. Somehow, he just knew that was true.

"Great now I have to put up with this stupid girl for the rest of this!" Kero groaned.

"What was that you bath sponge!" Meilin yelled.

"You heard me you brat!"

"This is going to be such a lively journey," Tomoyo remarked.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a lot more than that," Eriol chuckled. Li let out frustrated growl and started walking.

"All right enough of this! Let's just go!"

"Syaoran you're so cool!" Meilin squealed, instantly glomping him.

"Arg! Meilin get off!"

"Looks like you'll have to be putting up with annoying ball and chain too eh kid?" Kero said.

"What was that!" Meilin yelled.

"Oh god!" Li sighed.

"Let's not fight guys," Sakura piped up.

"You're so cute Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo squealed.

"Quite a lively trip indeed," Eriol chuckled. For better or for worse, they had gained two new companions.

AN: (Big sigh) Finally! This chapter took wayyyyyyyyyyy longer than I had hoped or expected. Mostly because, as you may have guessed, homework takes up almost all my time, and even when I'm done, I have to study for quizzes and tests! Plus since my Physics grade isn't so great I have to study in that even more. FYI: PHYSICS SUCKS!XP! Especially my teacher! But I won't go into that. So finally the group is complete! I've wanted to add Eriol and Meilin to the group since the beginning, but they seemed like characters that would show up later, so that's what I did. But with them in the picture, as you can see, they add a dynamic to the group. I'm quite pleased at how their fights turned out, could have been a little better in my opinion, but I thought it was fine. Where I got the ideas for their styles came mostly from the show and from other Animes. Meilin, for example, is a mixture of the one in the original show, Sanji from One Piece, and Rock Lee from Naruto. You can tell she's like Sanji because of her powerful kicks, and she's like Rock Lee because she can't use magic, and has to focus on physical fighting. Eriol is a mix of, the one from the show, Hakkai from Saiyuki, and Fai/Fye/Fay (however the hell you spell it) from Tsubasa Chronicles. I guess you could say this was a long chapter, and the ending seemed kind of rushed to me, but I guess you guys deserve it for your patience (or impatience in some cases). Anyway, enough of my ranting here's the preview of the next chapter!

Sakura: We come upon a town famous for it's public Marital Arts matches and challenges, and they have one undefeated fighter everyone is so proud of! So why does his daughter want him to lose? 

_Tomoyo: It seems he only accepts challenges from only worthy challenges. Is an infuriated Meilin a worthy enough challenge for him? _

_Sakura: And can Meilin-chan really beat someone like this, with her short-temper? _

_Kero: 1000 gold on the champ! _

_Sakura: (sweatdrops) Well that answers that. _

_Tomoyo: So be sure to join us for: "Temper vs. Pride" in the next Seven Deadly Jewels. See you then. _


	54. Temper vs Pride

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 54

As the sun peaked over the grassy the hills, the orange red light illuminated the once dark dusty road, giving the travelers the light they needed to travel. The area began to come to life as the bulbs of flowers slowly started to open, and squirrels ran across the road for whatever they could eat. Birds flew through the air, filling the air with their quiet songs of the morning.

Sakura only wished she could hear them.

Usually Sakura loved this part of the morning. The cool air against her skin, watching the sun slowly brighten the sky, and listing to the animals begin the day with their individual songs. But she couldn't fully appreciate these mornings like she used to, the main reason….

"Shut up you damn bath sponge!"

"What was that you brat?!"

"What are you deaf too!"

"It's better than being a loudmouth spoiled brat!"

"Now, now Kero-chan, Meilin-chan."

"What have I told you about that 'chan' crap!!!!"

_Whack! _

"Your kicks keep getting stronger every day my dear Meilin-chan."

"Would you guys shut up!!!!!!"

Meilin, Eriol, and Kero. Well, it was mostly Meilin and Kero. Sakura began to see just why Li left without saying anything to his friends that he's known since childhood, they each had a quirk that seemed to annoy the hell out of him.

Meilin was loud. Those three words were enough to get a shutter out of the usual stoic, and expressionless Li. Meilin was also extremely possessive. She could spend hours of the day latched onto Li's arm, virtually talking his ear off about their hypothetical wedding. Li yelling, and hitting on the head, seemed to have no effect on making her stop. Probably because she was so used to it, Sakura figured.

Eriol was hard to describe, but the best way to put it was, a kind of mysterious cunning that seemed to annoy Li even more than Meilin. To Sakura, Eriol was friendly, and very charming. But just his presence seemed to anger Li to no ends.

Meilin and Eriol's odd little quirks didn't end there though. Meilin was also extremely competitive the girl couldn't even stand losing at rock-paper-scissors. When she lost, she would scream at the top of her lungs and demand a do over. Plus, she had a very nasty habit of constantly glaring at Sakura with intense killing intent even time she so much as whispered to Li. With that in mind, Sakura could safely put extreme jealousy under Meilin's list of quirks.

Eriol was a smooth-talker. Not so much so a playboy, or a pervert, but he did love to charm women. The amazing thing was Eriol didn't need flattering words, or cheesy and overused lines, all he did was smile and women all but willingly fell into his arms. Sakura could tell Li's hate for smooth talkers obviously came from Eriol. But his smooth talking ways wasn't the quirk that angered Li the most, it was,

"And then I convinced Li-kun that the green berries were the best and sweetest in the bush, and he ate about 15 of them. He had such a terrible case of diarrhea next day."

"SHUT UP YOU DAMN BASTARD!!!!!!!!"

It was the embarrassing stories he told about their childhood.

"Ohohoho," Tomoyo giggled. "That reminds me of a time Sakura-chan drank some month old milk." Sakura instantly reddened like a tomato.

"Tomoyo-chan!!!!!!!" she screamed. "You promised you wouldn't bring that up anymore!"

"Really?" Eriol said, completely interested. "Do tell."

"Well the entire incident happened just last year really," Tomoyo started, clearly ignoring the loud protests of her best friend. Meilin scoffed.

"It happened just last year? You are hopeless Kinomoto."

"It could happen to anyone!" Sakura defended and walked to the front to save herself from further embarrassment. As Sakura heard Tomoyo retell one of her most embarrassing moments, Sakura couldn't help but notice how easily and quickly Eriol and Tomoyo hit it off. It was most likely because of how similar they were. But one thing was for sure, with those two together it meant a lifetime worth of embarrassment for the rest of them.

OOOOO

It was midday when the group came upon a town. It was a fair sized town with mostly shops and restaurants as its prime buildings. It was clear that this town was used to travelers coming here and spending more than just a day. The buildings were fairly wide and many had two or three levels to them. The rooftops of the town was a sea of blue tiles and signs advertising lower prices than the one next to them. The town had a large abundance of people of all sizes and shapes, but what Li couldn't help but notice was that a lot of the people were men of great physical build. There was an even larger number of them with fierce looks on their faces.

"Not exactly the most friendly bunch are they?" Eriol stated as he observed the large burly men walking down the street towards the town center.

"What's the attraction over there I wonder?" Tomoyo asked as she noticed the large bunch forming in the town's center.

"Shall we go take a look?" Eriol asked Li, who just scoffed.

"Fine, but one peak and that's it! We're just passing through here you got that!" he exclaimed. "I don't want anyone one of you getting involved in anything that makes us stay any longer that we have to! You got that!"

"Yes sir!" Eriol saluted.

"Shut up."

In the center of the town was a large round white tiled ring, completely surrounded by spectators cheering on the current fighters. The match was against a young black belt and a master, who was clearly in control of the match.

The black belt rushed in with a fast set of punches, but the master blocked them all with ease with one arm, and counter attacked with a simple push with the same arm that slid back the young man. The black belt let out a low growl before attacking with a kick. The master effortlessly sidestepped the blow and once again pushed the young man back. Clearly frustrated the black belt thrust himself into a fury of wild punches and kicks that seemed fast to him, but from the way the master was moving, they were going in slow motion. In one fast motion the master pulled on the young man's wrist and slammed his palm into the black belt's chest, making him fly out of the ring and crash into a cabbage cart.

"My cabbages!!!" the old cart vendor exclaimed.

"Next," the master said simply. The Master had jet-black hair tied in a low braided ponytail with small black eyes that seemed to take backseat for his thick black eyebrows. His moustache covered the top part of his lips making it seem as if his moustache was his mouth. He wore a black gi with white cuffs at the sleeves and had a red robe draped with the symbol for his school on the chest. But the most striking feature of the master was the confident, and arrogant smirk plastered on his lips. It clearly sent the message "I am far superior than any of you!"

"Are there any more challenges for Master Taijo?" the official asked the rowdy crowd. There was a loud yell of conferment as the challengers wrestled to get to the ring.

"What is this?" Sakura wondered.

"A martial arts challenge duh," Meilin replied as if it was common knowledge. "A gathering of fighters representing their regions and styles, testing their skills against the best of the best!"

"You know a lot," Sakura replied, but Meilin ignored her. The ruby-eyed girl's attention was completely locked onto the ring. She watched with unweaving concentration at the master who defeated all his opponents with a mere touch of his hand. A fire started to brew within her. With every defeated opponent the fire spread inside of her until it felt like her entire body was boiling. She started to shake with anticipation, and adrenaline until a smirk similar to the one the master had on his face crossed her lips, except it wasn't one of arrogance, but excitement.

"Next," the master called simply after another easy victory. Before she or any of the others knew it, Meilin flipped into the ring.

"Listen up you bastard!" Meilin yelled. "My name is Meilin! Remember it because I'm going to be the one who beats you!!!!!" Everything was silent for a long instant as the spectators processed what just happened. An odd girl flipped from the crowd into the ring, and declared herself the one who defeated the reigning champion of the region? It was the master who first got over the initial scoff, with a scoff.

"A girl like you defeat me? Taijo? The champion of this region? Don't make laugh girl." The master known as Taijo turned his back on his latest opponent and started to walk off the ring, instantly angering Meilin.

"Hey! Where you going? Get back here and fight me!" she yelled.

"I only fight those who are worthy. And some spontaneous girl is hardly worth my time," Taijo said. A vein popped on the girl's head.

"What was that!"

"A girl like you should be learning to cook for her husband and learning how to properly set a table." The vein enlarged.

"Yeah! Get that girl out of the ring!" a voice from the crowd yelled.

"Yeah! What is this a joke!" another voice agreed.

"What the hell does she think she's doing? Challenging the master like that!"

"How much do you want to bet she starts crying once she gets hit!" By now Meilin's bangs covered her eyes, and her hands curled into tight fists.

"Meilin!" Li whispered harshly as approached the ring. "What the hell are you doing! I told you not to get involved in anything! Now get out of that ring!" Taijo picked up on this and turned to Meilin.

"You should listen to him," he said. "Now get out of my ring you disrespectful brat!" Meilin gritted her teeth as more words were yelled from the audience.

"What a shameful daughter!"

"Where's her father? I'd love to see his reaction!"

"What a brat!" 

"She has to be some illegitimate child screaming for attention!"

"She must have some defect in her or something!"

"They certainly are giving Meilin-san a hard time," Sakura said as she listened to the insults and comments directed at her.

"Well a girl learning martial arts is a rare occurrence," Tomoyo replied.

"Meilin!" Li called again. "Let's go!" Meilin lowered her head as she unclenched her fists.

"Sorry Syaoran," she whispered. Li raised an eyebrow at her. Meilin never apologized for anything she did. Taijo smirked at her submission.

"What? What did you say?" Li asked.

"I said I'm sorry," she said a bit louder. "Sorry I have to….. KICK THIS BASTARD'S WORTHLESS ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" With that Meilin dashed towards the master and attacked with a fast kick, that he quickly dodged.

"So this is your choice," he said with his hands behind his back. "Fine, so be it. But don't blame me if you get seriously injured." Meilin just smirked and shifted into an attack stance.

"I should be saying the same thing to you, you old bastard." Taijo turned to the official and motioned for him to come into the ring.

"You there! Announce the match!"

"Are you sure master? It doesn't seem right, you fighting a girl. Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure fool! It's willing on both sides, so announce it already!"

"Y-Yes master!" The official turned to the crowd and made the announcement. "After a series of interesting comments and declarations, this match is on! Meilin: The Girl Martial Artist vs. Reigning Champion Taijo! Let this match…..Begin!!!"

That's all Meilin needed. With the drop of a hat, the girl rushed in and attacked with a fast kick to the chest. Taijo dodged with ease, but Meilin pivoted on her base foot, turning her sidekick into a round kick. Taijo leapt into the air, and collided his foot his Meilin's chin, making her fly back and slide against the ring.

"That's it," he scoffed. "How boring." The girl wiped the blood from her chin, and growled.

"I'm just getting started!" Meilin dashed towards her opponent and leapt into a mid-air round kick. Taijo quickly ducked under the attack like it was nothing. The second Meilin touched the floor, she thrust out her back leg, but the master dodged that attack as well.

"Is that all? You are all talk after all little girl," the smirk on the master's face was growing, and so was Meilin's frustration. The ruby-eyed girl rushed towards Taijo again, but this time she somersaulted into a handstand and attempted to slam her heel onto the older man's skull, but to no avail. Taijo saw the attack coming and easily blocked with an overhead block.

"Damn it!" she growled, and tried again with other foot, only to have it caught. The smirk on Taijo's face grew as he kicked Meilin in the stomach, making her fly back towards the end of the ring.

"Damn it Meilin!" Li yelled. "Would you just give it up already! What are you going to gain from this?"

"Shut up!" she yelled back as she stood up. "This guy insulted me, and now he has to pay the price!" Taijo's smirk widened more as Meilin approached him.

"You want more I see," he chuckled.

"You're damn right I do!" Meilin shot back. "But this time it's going to be you on the ground!

"That girl…!" Li growled as he slapped his forehead. Meilin attacked with another roundhouse kick that Taijo easily ducked under. The master kicked out Meilin's support leg out from under her, making the young girl drop to the floor. The second Meilin felt herself fall, she thrust out her hands under her for support and slammed her left foot into Taijo's forehead. The master reeled back in pain, and slid towards the edge.

Seeing her chance, Meilin pushed off against the floor and wrapped her legs around the master's head so that her thighs prevented him from raising his arms to defend himself. With a smirk to match his, Meilin started to pound hard punches onto the defenseless master's head. Taijo ran around the ring like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get the enraged girl off of him, or least try to block her blows.

"Does that girl know the meaning of overkill?" Kero asked as he witness it.

"Apparently not," Tomoyo said in awe.

"She's amazing," Sakura commented.

"It looks like she's having fun eh Syaoran?" Eriol chuckled. Li just slapped his forehead.

"That girl…!" he muttered again.

"That's no fair!" cried one of the audience. "She's cheating! The master can't even defend himself!"

"Who on Earth taught her that!"

"She's so cool!" exclaimed one of the little girls.

"Mommy! I want to learn that!" exclaimed another girl. The mothers looked at their daughters as if they were crazy.

By now, Meilin had landed countless blows on the master, and was nowhere tired yet, but she could tell she couldn't keep this up forever. She was proven right when somehow Taijo managed to bring up his right arm and thrust it out in a palm strike. Meilin quickly bent back her upper body into a handstand, but kept her leg grip on the master's head.

"Take this!" she yelled. With that, Meilin shot her legs forward, and hurled Taijo onto the floor. The master rolled towards the edge, but stopped himself just before he fell out.

"You little brat!" he exclaimed. His face was covered with bruises, his left eye was swollen shut, and his lips were inflated with swelling. His golden tan skinned face had become dark with intense black and blue bruises. Taijo wiped blood from his mouth and got his feet, his smirk completely gone.

"HA!" Meilin laughed. "That's what you get you bastard! I should make you pay double for making me use my hands!" Taijo raised his eyebrows at this.

"How do you expect to be a martial artist without using your hands? It is impossible for you to rely solely on your kicks!" Meilin just scoffed.

"Says you! I can't afford to damage my hands in battle!"

"Why is that Eriol-kun?" Sakura asked the doctor, who just shushed her.

"She'll say in….3-2-1…." As if on cue, Meilin exclaimed,

"My hands are destined to cook, clean, and take care of Syaoran! It's impossible for me to do that if they're damaged in fights! A wife's hands should be soft, gentle, and filled with love!"

"Oh…" Sakura said simply.

"I should have guessed," Tomoyo giggled.

"You the know sad thing is, she doesn't know that her hands have to be the roughest I've ever felt," Li muttered.

"You're damn right about that!" Kero agreed. "Their like sandpaper! Or rocks!" At moment, a rock shot out from the ring, and collided with Kero's forehead.

"Shut up bath sponge!" the ruby-eyed girl yelled.

"What was that brat!" The two exchanged fierce glares at each other before Taijo reclaimed Meilin's attention.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you and I are in a middle of a fight right now." Meilin snapped her head back to the master and went back into a stance. "I'm going to pay you back ten fold for all those punches you landed." The ruby-eyed girl just scoffed.

"You just try it old man."

"Gladly. I'm going to be serious this time." Taijo opened and closed his hands before flexing them like a tiger's claws. The crowd instantly erupted in cheers.

"It's the master's deadly Tiger's Claw!"

"That girl is finished!"

"Yeah! This'll teach her!"

Li narrowed his eyes when he felt the power coming from Taijo's hands. He could tell the master was serious this time. He looked over to Eriol who seemed to sense it as well.

"Meilin! Watch out!" Li warned. "His hands are probably five times more powerful!"

"Shut up! I got it!" she yelled back. When she turned her head back to her opponent, she was met with a yellow blur heading straight towards her. On instinct, the girl jumped back, the blur just grazing her stomach. When she looked down a look of surprise crossed her face. The stomach area of her clothes had a deep gash where the blur barely touched her. "Eh? What the hell?!" Taijo let out a cocky laugh as he shifted into a stance.

"That is the power of my Tiger Claw! By using my own ki to empower it, only a slight touch is enough to cut down my enemy!" Meilin gritted her teeth before letting out a cocky laugh herself.

"Oh yeah? Well good luck getting close! With my long legs, it'll be impossible for you get in arm's reach of me!" Taijo just smirked.

"Oh, about that…." At that moment, he suddenly appeared in front of Meilin within seconds and attacked with a just as fast slash. Purely on instinct again Meilin back flipped away, but Taijo was nose to nose with her within seconds and attacked again. The ruby-eyed girl cartwheeled to the right and slammed her left foot into the older man's head as she went. Taijo planted his foot in the ground to keep himself from sliding, and slashed Meilin's attacking leg, making it a deep wound.

"Damn it!" she hissed as she took a knee. When she looked up, she saw the same blur again, this time aimed towards her face. Meilin quickly rolled away, and stood up on the other side of the ring. Just when she thought she was safe, Taijo came in again with another slash. The kung-fu girl quickly bent her upper body back, and threw up her right leg to counter. Taijo easily sidestepped the blow, and elbowed the young girl in her stomach. The master stood over the girl with the same smirk on his face as when the fight started.

"Do you know your place now little girl?" he asked with a chuckle. "Your kicks might be powerful, and your legs long, but the second I get close like this, they're all worthless. The long legs you're so proud of will be the cause of your own defeat."

"Shut up!" Meilin attacked with fast straightforward kick, but Taijo easily dodged, and went thrust his palm out, knocking Meilin off her feet.

"It's pointless girl. Not only do I get the Tiger's strength, but its agility and gracefulness as well. I can get in close to you before you can even think about raising your leg."

"I'm not through yet!" she exclaimed and attacked Taijo's leg with a sweep, but the master easily avoided it. Meilin's leg came back around towards Taijo's head, but the attack was once again avoided, and the master knocked Meilin to the ground with thrust of his palm.

"It's useless. Give up." Meilin growled as she struggled to get up.

"Li, shouldn't you go in there and help her?" Sakura asked.

"What are you nuts?" Li shot back. "There's no way in hell Meilin would accept help from any of us."

"But at this rate she'll get seriously hurt!" Sakura said.

"It's alright," Eriol piped up. "Meilin might not have magical powers or supernatural senses, but she does have great fighting instincts. Probably better than any of ours. I'm sure she'll figure something out."

"But…"

"That's it Taijo!" Kero yelled. "Show that brat her place! I'm rooting for you!"

"Kero-chan!" Sakura exclaimed. "You're cheering for her opponent!"

"You expect me to cheer for that brat who calls me "bath sponge" all the time!"

"Probably because you do look like one," Li muttered.

"What that kid!"

"Look," Tomoyo pointed out. "I think Meilin-san is about to make her comeback." The group turned their attention back to the fight, and saw said martial arts girl, on her feet with a smirk on her face. Eriol smiled when he saw that smirk, Li let out a relived grunt.

"I think she's figured something out," the doctor said.

"Still have some fight in you I see," Taijo chuckled. "Fine. It'll make this all the more fun." Meilin returned the smirk as she shifted into a stance.

"Come at me anytime your ready old man," she stated.

"Fine with me!" With that the master zoomed in towards Meilin and was nose to nose with her in seconds. "This fight is over!" The yellow blur shot at Meilin, but the ruby-eyed girl dropped her body into a one handed handstand to avoid.

"Your right it is!" she declared.

"Even if you dodge, your legs are still too long to hit me at this range!" The master was proved dead wrong when Meilin's knee collided with his head, dropping him to the floor. The girl pushed herself back to her feet with a smirk.

"You were saying?" she asked. Taijo quickly got to his feet and attacked again with a palm thrust. Meilin instantly leaned to the side, and slammed her knee in the master's chest, making him stumble back. Seeing her chance for a win, she slammed a straightforward kick into his stomach, then a round kick into his left ribs, and a another round kick to his right. Meilin grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a series of knee strikes to his chest and, then pushed him, and collided another sidekick in his stomach, knocking him down.

"You brat!" he yelled as he got to his feet, which were barely keeping him up. Meilin ran towards Taijo for the finishing blow. "I will not lose!" The master thrust out his hand, but Meilin ducked under the attack and whirled around, gaining power and momentum for the finishing blow.

"Dragon….Shot!!!!" The girl's powerful leg slammed into Taijo's chest, sending him flying through five buildings and crashing into the old man's cabbage chart nearly twenty yards away.

"My cabbages!!!!!!!!!" the old man cried. All was silent for a long while. The audience stood there with their jaws hanging open, and their bodies completely frozen in shock. They couldn't believe that Taijo, the undefeated champion, had been defeated by some no name. But not just any no name, a female no name! Meilin looked at the crowd, and gave them a smug smirk before turning heel and walking to the end of the ring.

"I….I…..I…..I…. don't…..believe it folks…….." the official stuttered. "M-M-M-M-Master Taijo has been……defeated……by……by……by……."

"LI MEILIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Meilin screamed. The official couldn't take anymore and fainted in shock. The audience continued to be silent, and it seemed at any minute they would rush the ring to fight Meilin. But a young girl broke the tension.

"Thank you!!!!" she cried, which caught Meilin's attention instantly. A girl with long brown hair and brown eyes in a white robe and apron rushed to the stage and vigorously shook Meilin's hand. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

"Huh?"

"You defeated my father! What's your name? Where are you from? Who taught your style? Where did you learn it? How vigorous is the training?"

"Hey slow down! First tell me what the hell's going on!" The girl let out an embarrassed chuckle.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. My name is Yuki Taijo. The master's daughter. I've wanted him to lose for so long now, but no one's been able to do it." Meilin raised her eyebrow.

"Why's that?"

"Because he's become a cocky bastard!" Yuki exclaimed. "Ever since he won his first tournament, that's all he's ever thought about. Challenge after challenge! Fighter after fighter until he completely forgot about my mother and I!"

"Oh," Meilin replied simply.

"I wanted to beat him, but since girls can't learn martial arts, I depended on the incoming challengers. But they were all talk! I started to think no one could beat him, but then you showed up, and totally kicked his ass!!!! He'll come home for sure! Thank you! Thank you!" Yuki went on to give the still dumbfounded Meilin a tight hug while jumping up and down.

The crowd looked on the fight with a set of eyes as they listened to Yuki's story. At first there was no reaction, but a light clap from someone erupted into the entire audience clapping and cheering.

"Damn good fight!"

"Mommy!" cried one girl. "I want to learn that!"

"Me too!" exclaimed her brother.

"You can't learn that! You're a boy!" the girl said.

"No! I can learn what I want!"

"It's about time he lost! He should go home to his family!" said one man.

"Yeah. But wonder how his reputation will look once word get out he was defeated by some no named girl!"

"So that's how it was," Eriol said. "Well then I guess this little detour was for the better then."

"Says you," Li scoffed.

"I agree with Eriol-kun," Tomoyo said. "Meilin-san was able to make some else's life happier."

"Like that was her intent," the swordsman snorted.

"No!!!!!" Kero yelled. "Damn brat!!!!! I lost 1000 gold!"

"You what!!!!!!!!!!" Li yelled.

"Oops."

"You damn gambling plush toy!"

"Now, now you guys," Sakura stepped in trying to break them up.

"Fools!" Taijo's voice erupted from the crowd. The former champ was virtually in shambles. His cloak was completely torn, bruises covered his body entirely, and he was all but limping towards the ring. "I haven't…..lost…..yet…..! Come girl…..let's finish….!" At that moment a loud WHACK echoed through the air and Taijo collapsed to the ground.

"Get your damn ass back home!" a voice exclaimed from behind him. It was a woman, holding a wooden sword in her hands, clearly Taijo's wife. "Yuki! Grab his arms and I'll take his legs!"

"Yes mother!" Yuki replied. "Thank you again. We'll take it from here." That said, the girl helped her mother drag the former champ away. The crow erupted into cheers again at their new champion, who basked in the applause.

"HA!" Kero scoffed. "She just got lucky." A rock collided with the beast's forehead again.

"What was that bath sponge!"

"You heard me brat!" Meilin jumped down from the ring and grabbed the beast.

"Call me a brat again and see what happens!"

"Brat! Brat! Brat!"

"Why you little….!"

"Now guys don't fight…." Sakura attempted, but was ignored.

"Can we just go!" Li yelled. "We've wasted enough time as it is!"

"You have no sense of fun Syaoran!" Eriol pouted.

"You call wasting time here fun?!"

"Yes."

"You are an idiot then!"

Sakura and Tomoyo looked at their group, and sighed. They all weren't even together a week yet, and already they were fighting with each other. The girls knew one thing was for certain, this was going to be an interesting journey.

AN: AHHHH!!!! Finally done!!!!!! You have no idea the amount of trouble I went through for this chapter! First there was the problem of ordering the sequences. At first, I wanted Yuki's story to be at the beginning, and then the fight taking up the middle and the end. I threw that out because I didn't think Meilin was the type to go out of her way for someone else. Then I figured I would dive straight into the fight. I had Meilin fight the other challengers, and fight Taijo at the end. That didn't work either because describing the fighters, and their techniques was taking up too many pages. By the time I got to where Meilin fought Taijo I realized I would need to make this a two-chapter arc to finish. I wanted to keep this a one-chapter event so I threw that one out. Then when I finally got something working, my mom accidentally deleted the entire document, so I had to start all over! (Sigh) I hope you guys like this chapter, even if you aren't a big fan of Meilin. This chapter was mainly for her to show off more of her moves, and why she focused mainly on kicks. Oh and don't worry, Sakura will not be taking a backseat at all. She's still the main heroine, and there is no way I'm going to let her sit there on the sidelines. It's just with Meilin and Eriol getting into the picture I wanted to spend a few chapters getting used to writing them, and how they fight. Also I wanted to show you guys their personalties and the kind of relationship they have with Li, and the others. I call this set of chapters my "show off arc" because it revolves around Meilin and Eriol pretty much showing off what they can do. This might go on for three or four more chapters before I dive back into the main storyline and Sakura. Oh and I put in a small reference/joke to Avatar: The Last Airbender. See if you can find it. Anyway enough of my ranting here the preview for the next chapter.

_Sakura: Next time, Li and Eriol-kun get captured. What a minute, they get captured? How? _

_Tomoyo: Apparently it's all a part of a strange plan Eriol-kun has to free a mother's son. _

_Li: Why involve me then? _

_Eriol: Because your just so fun to be around Syaoran-kun! _

_Li: Shut up! _

_Sakura: So join us next time for "The Sympathetic Doctor" See ya soon! _


	55. The Sympathetic Doctor

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 55

The orange orb slowly drifted down the far hill, the sky drenched with red orange, and orange red color. The shadows became longer with each passing second as night became ever more present. The bare trees were covered with crows, and ravens, a symbol for up coming deaths.

The town was as silent as a tomb as they crowded around the lord's center courtyard, which was littered with soldiers and guards. Two young men were marched into the center, and force to kneel before a short tubby lord with a smirk of superiority bluntly on his face.

"Hiiragizawa Eriol!" a guard announced, forcing the young doctor kneel.

"The rouge swordsman known only as Li!" another announced, making Li kneel like Eriol. The two struggled with their tightly knotted bonds, and Li kept looking around for his sword.

"These two are charge with conspiracy to revolution, and poisoning of the lord's son! For these crimes, they are sentenced to death by beheading!" a guard read off a paper.

"Well," the lord chuckled as he stood over the two. "Are you ready to beg for mercy before me? Are you ready to apologize?" Li just spat at his feet. Eriol just smiled.

"Don't make me laugh asshole," the chestnut haired swordsman scoffed. The lord growled, and signaled for the guards to prepare themselves.

"Fine then! Men ready…" The guards slowly started to raise their swords. "Set…"

"I don't know how you talk me into this crap Eriol!" Li growled at the still smiling doctor.

"Oh come on Syaoran. It could be worse." Li shot him a deep glare. "Okay maybe this is as worse as it can get. But at least we had fun."

"You maybe…" Li growled.

"Slice!!!!!" At that moment, the guards let their swords drop.

_One day earlier_

It was a cool brisk day with thin clouds floating through the sky, and a slight chilling breezing flowing through the air. The day had been relatively calm and uneventful as the group walked along the road, at least that how it appeared at first glance.

Taking a closer look, a person would be able to see the angry, and annoyed glare in the eyes of Li as he walked in front, and the uneasiness of Sakura who was walking next to him. His eyes were narrowed, and his teeth were grinding together in a futile attempt to calm himself. He was opening and closing his hand, trying to calm down that way, but to no avail. What was the cause of the swordsman's anger?

Eriol Hiiragizawa.

Or rather, what he was doing.

"And Li actually thought the cave was filled with monsters! He couldn't sleep for weeks, but it turned out to be just a family of cats," Eriol laughed as he told the tale to his companion, and partner in crime, Tomoyo.

Li gritted his teeth at Eriol favorite way to pass the time, embarrassing, and torturing him to no ends. For the past couple his days, the doctor's choice of torture for now, were the embarrassing stories of him during their childhood. It was taking all of Li's inner control not dash towards the doctor and either pound him into oblivion, or just kill him on the spot.

But the worst part was, the bastard of a doctor was actually enjoying watching his inner struggle. Every time Li would look over at the doctor, he would have a look in his eyes that clearly said to him, "I am so enjoying this right now," the very thought of that made Li's anger flare. He wished he could in some way torture the doctor back, but nothing seemed to bother him, and he was never all that great at dragging things out like this. Li needed an outlet for his anger, but currently there was none around.

"He actually thought that!" Kero laughed. "Man! The big bad kid really is just a crowd deep down!" Li shifted his intense glare to the yellow beast, and smirk replaced his glare. He may not be able to torture Eriol back, but he did still have an outlet for his anger.

Ten seconds later Kero's life was flashing before his eyes.

OOOOO

By the time the group had settled down for breakfast, Kero yellow fur was completely black and blue with some dried blood clinging to it, and the little beast could barely move let alone fly. While he was completely immobile, Li felt five times better, but was still annoyed.

"Little brat!" he grumbled.

"You want another set!" Li growled. Kero quickly cowered behind Sakura.

"Was really necessary to beat Kero-chan like that Li?" Sakura asked.

"Hey. It made me feel better."

"Such a violent person you are Li," Eriol chuckled.

"Shut up!"

"Enough talking!" Meilin exclaimed. "Let's eat I'm starving!" Kero instantly revived himself and began chowing down on the bento Fujitaka packed like his life depended on it.

"Stomach on legs," Li muttered.

"What was that kid!"

"Want me to repeat you deaf stuffed animal!"

"And they're off," Tomoyo giggled. Sakura just let out sigh, as she started to eat, those two were hopeless. After a good thirty minutes of yelling, the two huffed and turned to their food. When they grabbed their chopsticks and took a bite their faces twisted in disgust and wretched.

"Damn!!!! That's too sweet!!!!" Kero exclaimed. "I like sweet things and all, but that's too sweet!!!!!"

"Damn it Sakura!!!!!!" Li yelled. "What the hell did you father put in this!!!!" Sakura gave him a blank look.

"Huh? What are talking about?" she asked as she tasted her own food, and tasted nothing sweet. "It tastes fine to me." Li narrowed his eyes at her before a realization struck him. His eyes instantly fired up as he whirled towards the culprit.

"Eriol!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The doctor looked up from his food with a smile.

"Yes?" he asked simply. Eriol quickly ducked under a swing from Li's sword. "Oh no! Li-kun is mad at me!"

"Shut up and get back here!!" Li yelled as he chased his dark haired friend around the field, swinging wildly, all the while with Eriol chucking as if it was a game.

"I see you've gotten faster!"

"You just had to mess with my food!!!"

"You should be happy I made it sweeter! Would you prefer I made it taste like a dog!"

"You wouldn't be alive right now if you did!" As Li chased Eriol around, the girls couldn't help but sweatdrop at their childish behavior. Meilin managed to ignore the two as she stole some of Kero's rice cakes.

Just as Eriol and Li made their third lap around the field, they loud yell from behind them. The two whirled around just in time to collide with a young man who was running as fast as he could. Behind him were three men that looked like officers from the insignia on the backs of their robes of the lord they were serving. The young man quickly got to his feet and started to run, but Eriol grabbed his arm.

"It is courteous to apologize after you collide with someone," he said to the boy, who immediately struggled to break free as he watched the three men get closer.

"Let me go!" the young man yelled, as pulled out of Eriol's grip, and broke into a sprint again. The three men quickly followed after him.

"Oh my. I hope he isn't in any serious trouble," Eriol said as he watched the boy run out of sight. Li just sighed.

"You're so nosey you know that right."

"I wouldn't call it being nosey, more like curious," Eriol replied. Li just scoffed at his friend before swinging his sword towards him again, which restarted their chase. Clearly Li wasn't about let Eriol forget about his little prank that easily.

OOOOO

It took another five laps around the field before Li managed to calm down as much as he could. He was still slightly bitter about it, but the chase seemed to burn out the anger and annoyance Li had been building up for a while. They managed to arrive at a small town without incident.

The town was very small, it only contained a few wooden houses that were packed closely together with only a few shops in the area. The people wore simple one colored robes, and carried their farming equipment with them. It was a very simple looking town, with a simple set of humble, and simple people. It could have easily been written off as such, but near far end of the town was a large mansion surrounded by walls like a castle.

"Well looks like it's easy to see who's in charge in this place," Eriol said.

"And if that wasn't enough of a give away check out those men over there," Tomoyo pointed out at three officers walking down the road, eying them suspiciously.

"Should we go?" Sakura asked.

"Might as well," Li figured. "Nothing keeping us here." Just as the group was about to turn around and go, a noise caught Kero's ears.

"Free Dango! Free Sweet Dangos!!!!" The yellow beast instantly flew over to the booth, and grabbed one.

"Don't mind if I do!" he exclaimed, but he immediately kissed the ground.

"You idiot!" Li yelled. "All you think about is your damn stomach!"

"Besides Kero you just ate," Sakura added.

"So what if I have a snack here and there. What's the big deal! Besides this lady is giving them out for free! Dive in, is what that says to me!!"

"What an idiot," Meilin scoffed. "What the hell is a Dango anyway?"

"If you haven't had one before, then please try one," the middle-aged vendor woman offered. Meilin shrugged, and took a bite. The ruby-eyed girl's face instantly lit up, and within seconds finished the entire stick, and was eating three more.

"And you're saying these are free!" she exclaimed. "Li! We gotta stay!" Li just slapped his forehead.

"She changes her mind fast," Tomoyo giggled.

"You have no idea," the swordsman sighed.

Within moments the group was settled in the vendor's restaurant having Dangos with some tea. Kero was all but inhaling the dumplings, even taking Meilin's. Li couldn't help but sigh at how easily they could just settle in one place so quickly.

"How much do we owe you?" Eriol asked the woman, who just smiled at him.

"Oh no, it's completely free."

"Well then thank you for your generosity," Tomoyo replied with a bow of her head. The woman smiled at her before turning towards a door in the back.

"Kaiya! Come out here, we have customers!" she called.

"I'm coming mom!" A young man with long black hair held back with a green headband walked out of the door. His brown eyes took note of the only table in the restaurant with people sitting at it. He wore a simple green tunic with brown pants, and his hands showed evidence of fieldwork. As the young man walked towards the table, Kero looked up and blurted out,

"Hey! You're the kid who was being chased by those officers we saw!" Kaiya's eyes widened and took a step back as his mother looked at him with concern and worry written on her face.

"You were being chased! Again!"

"Not all mom," Kaiya replied nervously. "Those people are crazy."

"Nope. You pretty much match the description," Kero said before Li slammed him into the table.

"You're so not helping." Kaiya shot a glare to Kero before turning back to his mother.

"You have to believe me mom! I wouldn't do something as stupid as get chased again!" At that moment, the door flew open, and three officers armed with long spears and a young man in a richly decorated robe entered the restaurant. From the deep frowns on their faces, and the cold look in their eyes, it was easily tell they were not customers.

"You have your weekly payment?" the young man asked impatiently. Kaiya let out a growl as he turned to them, fury clearly in his eyes.

"We already paid you bastards yesterday! What more do you want?" The young man just chuckled.

"Sorry to say but pop just upped the payment by 50." Kaiya's eyes widened in shock before going back to his initial anger.

"50! That's outrageous! No one in this village can pay that!" he yelled. The officers just smirked.

"Do you want to get kicked off your land?"

"Bastards!" Kaiya growled as he made a tight fist. "We aren't paying you anything!" With that Kaiya rushed towards the officers and threw a strong punch, but the lord's son easily sidestepped it, and knocked Kaiya into one of the officers, who slammed his spear butt onto Kaiya's head, knocking him out instantly.

"Kaiya no!" his mother exclaimed. The subordinates started to kick the young man's body, while the lord's son grabbed the mother by her hair.

"Now pay up or end up like your son over there. Or worse, like your husband." At that moment a plate slammed into the son's head, making him stumble. "What the-! Who threw that!" He eyes landed on the sole table with customers.

"I think I've heard more than enough," Eriol said as he stood up. "This woman has offered my friends and I a free snack, and we were enjoying it until you guys showed up. So I ask you to leave these kind people in peace and no harm with come to you." Li just scoffed.

"You know, it's a hell of a lot easier and quicker if you kick their asses."

"I know Eriol," Meilin agreed with her mouth filled with Dangos. "Save yourself the trouble."

"You must be this kid's fellow conspirators!" the son exclaimed. "Officers arrest them!" With that the three officers rushed towards Eriol who just smiled at them.

"So it turns out this way huh?" The doctor easily sidestepped a thrust from a spear, and jumped back as the three officers gathered around him with the son behind them.

"Give up. You're surrounded." But Eriol just kept his smile.

"You really shouldn't swing around such dangerous weapons. You could get hurt," he said, but then added with mischief in his voice, "Or worse, bitten." Before the officers knew it, they heard loud hissing sounds. Their hearts stopped when they looked down. Instead of three wooden spears, they were holding three venomous snakes! Within seconds they dropped their former weapons and ran out of the restaurant screaming their heads off as the snakes followed them.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked Kaiya's mother as she and Tomoyo helped her up.

"Judging from that bastard son, and those officers, that isn't exactly a nice guy is he?" Li figured.

"That's an understatement," Kaiya scoffed as he got up. "That bastard lord and his son suddenly show up and makes us their slaves! This village wasn't exactly rich before they came, but they're making it even worse! People can barely survive day to day! My father tried to set up a revolt…..but…he was killed! Now it's up to me! But I get caught a lot, so they see me as a criminal."

"I keep telling you that fighting is not the answer!" his mother exclaimed.

"So what do you want me do mom? Let them walk all over us like this?" Before they situation could blow up into a full-blown argument, Kero defused the tension with his stomach.

"Hey! Can I have some more Dangos!"

OOOOO

That afternoon, the group having stuffed their fill of Dangos decided to head back on the road. Although, Kero wished to stay longer for some more Dangos, especially the chocolate covered ones he had heard about.

"Come on! At least a couple for the road!" the beast whined. "You have to admit those were good!"

"You sure you don't want to help those people Li?" Sakura asked.

"We wasted enough time there as it is," he replied. "I'd rather not get involved anyway." Eriol who sensed someone behind them, chuckled.

"Actually it looks like we're about to," he said. As if on cue, Kaiya's mother rushed towards them with a desperate look on her face.

"Please help! You have to help him!!" she cried. The frantic woman finally reached them, but her legs gave out to her hard running for the past 20 minutes, and she collapsed in Eriol arms. She tried to talk, but she couldn't stop panting, she could barely catch her breath. Eriol placed his hand over her heart and felt it was beating erratically. He could also tell from her short and shallow breaths she wasn't getting enough air at all.

"What's wrong with her?" Tomoyo asked.

"She's hyperventilating," he explained. The doctor's hand over her heart began to glow bright blue as he said soothingly, "Please calm down ma'am. Calm down." He let out a smile as he felt her heart slow down, and felt that enough was getting to her lungs.

"You have to help Kaiya!" she finally said after a few minutes. "They came and took him away! Something about he's a leader of conspirators and you were one of them, I don't know, but please help him!"

"Don't worry we'll find him," Eriol assured her.

"We're going to do that how?" Kero asked. Eriol looked at the group behind him, and let out another one of his mischievous smiles.

Within moments they were back in town, walking aimlessly, and Eriol not saying a word about what his plan was. When asked all he said was "I need to find an officer." The doctor finally lucked out when an officer approached. When he got a good look at Eriol he instantly pointed his spear at him.

"You! You must be one of that kid's men! You're under arrest! Surrender!" Eriol simply put up his hands and surrendered.

"Oh, but I'm not the only one," he said. The officer looked up at this.

"Where are the others?" he demanded.

"There's one right there," Eriol replied pointing at Li.

"WHAAAAAAATTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!" The swordsman yelled. Within seconds he and Eriol were tied up, hurled into carriage that the officer yelled for and were rushed to the mansion, leaving the other dumbstruck.

"What just happened?" Sakura wondered. Tomoyo just giggled.

"I think Hiiragizawa-san just tricked Li."

OOOOO

"It was going to be such a simple thing," Li grumbled from within the carriage. "Go back to the town, kill some guys, rescue the dumb kid, and be on our way. But now at us. Where are we?"

"In a carriage on our way to the prison," Eriol replied cheerfully, which did not bode well with Li.

"GOD YOU SUCK!!!!!!! WHY THE HELL DID YOU INVOVLE ME IN THIS CRAP ANYWAY!!!!!?!?!!? IF YOU WANTED ME TO HELP THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS TELL WHAT YOU WERE THINKING!!!!!!"

"Well I could, but….. I just love the angry and troubled look on your face Syaoran-kun!" That did it. Li exploded in anger and started to chase Eriol around the carriage, screaming bloody murder.

"YOU IDOIT!!!!!! YOU SUCK!!!!! YOU REALLY SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!"

The officers meanwhile sweatdropped at their rowdy captives.

OOOOO

The carriage reached the large mansion they saw earlier in town. The officers forced their captives to kneel at the sight of the lord who wished the greet the new captives. At the sight of Eriol, the lord kicked the doctor in the stomach, making the doctor double over.

"You bastard," the lord said, surprisingly calm. "You're the one who poisoned my son."

"Poisoned?" Eriol asked dumbly, earning him a kick to his ribs.

"You and your _magic_! You're snakes bit my son, and poisoned him! He'll probably die by morning!"

"Oops," Eriol chuckled, which got him another kick to his ribs.

"You're really helping yourself here," Li scoffed. The lord kicked the swordsman in his stomach as well.

"Well, if my son will be dead by morning so will you murderers! You will be executed at dusk! However, I will make sure you suffer before then!" the lord turned to one of the officers. "Take them to the torture chamber!"

"Well this will put a damper on our search of Kaiya-kun," Eriol said as if they were only getting slightly delayed.

"You idiot!"

They were led below the mansion to the dark and damp dungeons. Eriol mentally shuddered as his foot stepped in a deep cold puddle of water. The corridor was narrow, and barely lit. One each side of the corridor were cells packed with "conspirators" yelling for their freedom at the approaching officers. The prisoners were dressed in a simple black tunic that were ragged, dirty and wet, hardly comforting in Eriol's mind. They reached two doors at the end of the corridor, and the two were separated.

"See you later Syaoran-kun!" the doctor said cheerfully.

"I hope they kill you!" Li shot back as they both disappeared behind the door.

OOOOO

Kaiya looked up as his cell opened, as the officers pushed in two more in an already crowded cell. Kaiya sat in a corner and watched as the inmates circled around the newcomers. They seemed weak, tired, and beaten, but despite that he could still hear their energy filled argument.

"This is all your fault," Li growled weakly.

"Now, now Syaoran, complaining isn't going to help," Eriol replied, who didn't sound as weak as the swordsman.

"I'm not complaining, I'm blaming! You! You and your damn sympathy! It's going to be the death of us! Or mostly me!"

"You're so selfish Syaoran," the doctor giggled. "But I just love that angry look on your face." A growl could be heard through the cell, and struggle to move.

"If I wasn't so damn weak, I'd kick your worthless ass right now." By now Kaiya remember their voices, and pushed his way through the circle the inmates created around the chatty duo. Eriol looked up, and smiled.

"Li look, the object of our mission."

"Leave me alone."

"What are you guys doing here?" Kaiya asked in shock.

"Well, rescuing you I guess," Eriol replied. "Although I wouldn't call this much of a rescue."

"I call getting our asses kick by bastards weaker than us," Li scoffed.

"Nobody asked you to do this for me! What are you wasting your time!" the young man yelled.

"Well actually, your mother asked us to. She's worried about you, much more than normal worry. If this keeps up the stress might get to her, maybe even kill her," Eriol said seriously. Kaiya felt his heart stop. His mother die, because of him? Just the idea of it made him hate himself. He felt the ground beneath him collapse as he thought of the sight of his mother laying, dying while he just ignored her. It was bad enough she lost his father, now at this rate she was going to lose him as well.

"Mother," he muttered softly.

"I don't know much about parents, but I do know what it's like to make someone you care about worry about you more than they should. It's good you are so determined with your goals, but for those who watch you, all they can do is worry about you, and it's not good for a person to worry all the time, it's not a good feeling have 24/7 trust me." From the shocked, and regretful look Kaiya's eyes, Eriol could tell he understood.

"Nice speech," Li muttered. "Now there's the little problem of actually getting out of here!" Eriol just smiled at his partner.

"We'll find a way, we always do."

OOOOO

The door to the cell swung open, waking the inmates, who watched like hawks as Eriol and Li were forced to their feet, and out the door. Their hands were tied tightly, and one of the officers held the long rope, leading them like dogs. Li looked over to Eriol to see if the doctor was making some kind of signal, but the doctor was just smiling as usual as if nothing was happening. Li just sighed, he should have expected as much from that smiling freak.

Meanwhile in town, talks of a public execution began circulating throughout the small town. The farmers were dropping their farm equipment rushing towards the lord's mansion to see what poor souls would be killed this time. Sakura and the others could help but worry about their two captured friends, and to make matters worse, Kaiya's mom had fallen into a deep sleep and wasn't waking up.

"Maybe we should go see if they need help," Sakura suggested.

"Knowing Li he has the situation under control," Meilin scoffed.

"It wouldn't hurt to look though," Tomoyo said.

The orange orb slowly drifted down the far hill, the sky drenched with red orange, and orange red color. The shadows became longer with each passing second as night became ever more present. The bare trees were covered with crows, and ravens, a symbol for up coming deaths.

The town was as silent as a tomb as they crowded around the lord's center courtyard, which was littered with soldiers and guards. Two young men were marched into the center, and force to kneel before a short tubby lord with a smirk of superiority bluntly on his face.

"Hiiragizawa Eriol!" a guard announced, forcing the young doctor kneel.

"The rouge swordsman known only as Li!" another announced, making Li kneel like Eriol. The two struggled with their tightly knotted bonds, and Li kept looking around for his sword.

"These two are charge with conspiracy to revolution, and poising of the lord's son! For these crimes, they are sentenced to death by beheading!" a guard read off a paper.

"Well," the lord chuckled as he stood over the two. "Are you ready to beg for mercy before me? Are you ready to apologize?" Li just spat at his feet. Eriol just smiled.

"Don't make me laugh asshole," the chestnut haired swordsman scoffed. The lord growled, and signaled for the guards to prepare themselves.

"Fine then! Men ready…" The guards slowly started to raise their swords. "Set…"

"I don't know how you talk me into this crap Eriol!" Li growled at the still smiling doctor.

"Oh come on Syaoran. It could be worse." Li shot him a deep glare. "Okay maybe this is as worse as it can get. But at least we had fun."

"You maybe…" Li growled.

"Slice!!!!!" At that moment, the guards let their swords drop.

In that split second Li suddenly ducked, letting the sword pass over him, and slammed his foot in the guard's stomach. The sword flew out of his hands, and imbedded itself next to Eriol, who quickly cut his ropes, and did the same for Li, who smirked wildly.

"Now for a little payback you bastards!" The lord quickly stepped back, as his guards and officers covered him. Without another word Li and Eriol split towards opposite ends of the courtyard. Within moments the bodies started to pile up on Li's side as he plowed his way through the incoming guards with a vengeance. The swordsman dodged a thrust and slashed his attacker across his chest. Ten more came his way, but they were on the ground with their blood staining the ground faster than they could blink.

Eriol kept the smile on his face as he was surrounded on all sides by the guards who had all their spears and swords pointed at him. With a blink of an eye the guards rushed towards the doctor, completely covering him. But when they pulled back, they saw that Eriol had suddenly disappeared.

"Hey boys!" Eriol called from below. The guards looked down only to feel the earth below them suddenly turn over like a trap door, ensnaring them beneath surface within seconds. Just as Eriol floated up to the surface ten more guards rushed his way. The dark-haired doctor dodged a thrust, and in one motion pulled the spear out of the guard's hands, and pushed him to the ground. Snapping off the arrowhead, Eriol twirled the staff towards the incoming attackers, creating a fierce wind that blew them back.

Li slashed his way towards the door, and killed two more guards in his path with one slash. Finally reaching the door, he turned to Eriol, who just blew away another batch of guards.

"Hey! Come on let's go!"

"Not without Kaiya-kun! That was the whole reason for this remember?" Eriol reminded the annoyed swordsman. Li was about to protest when someone called from above.

"Leave it to us!" the two looked up and saw Sakura and the others floating overhead on Keroberos. Seeing a chance, Eriol grabbed a set of keys from an attacking guard before blowing him away as well.

"Tomoyo-san!" he exclaimed as he threw up the keys. "Use those keys to open the dungeons! Kaiya-kun is in one of them!" Tomoyo nodded at her duty, as jumped down from the beast and ran towards the lower floors of the mansion. Just as she was about to reach, twenty guards went after her, but were instantly blown away by Sakura.

"Damn," Li growled as he slashed another group of guards. "There's no end to them!" The swordsman quickly flipped backwards to get away from incoming attacks, and landed back to back with Eriol. By now they were completely surrounded, with no hope of reaching the exits. The guards rushed in ready for the kill when Kero swooped down, and grabbed the two in his mouth.

"Thank you for the save Kero-chan."

"Can we go now?" Li asked clearly annoyed by the entire ordeal.

"What about Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked. Eriol gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, she'll be here in 3-2-1…." As if on cue, the door to the lower floor burst open, and the entire courtyard was flooded with the black clad inmates. In a mere matter of minutes, the inmates overwhelmed the guards, with cries of freedom and victory. A cry from Tomoyo and Kaiya was the signal Kero needed to swoop down and pick them up.

As the group passed over the mansion, Eriol saw the lord running out of the back with his poisoned son on his shoulders. Without a word, Eriol dropped from Keroberos and landed with ease in front of the fat lord, who instantly begged for mercy.

"Please spare me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll give you anything you want! Money! Women! My position! Just spare me please!" Eriol ignored the lord, and reached into his robes, making the lord shiver with fear.

"Here," the doctor pulled out a small vial of green liquid, and placed it in the lord's hand. "For you son. If you give him this, and promise you'll never tyrannize another town again, I'll spare you." The lord nodded quickly and quickly disappeared into the night.

"How could you spare you him!" Kaiya yelled from above. "After all the things he's done!?"

"I'm a doctor," Eriol said simply. "All that matters to me is helping someone, regardless of what they've done." He turned around and smiled sweetly at the group. "Now how about we return Kaiya-kun to his mother?"

OOOOO

The minute Kaiya walked through the door of his home, and announced his presence, his mother made an instant recovery. For fifteen minutes she did nothing but hug and kiss her wayward son in tears. Kaiya whole-heartedly returned the embrace in tears as well. His mother muttered a wordless "thank you" to Eriol who simply bowed and walked out the door to join his friends.

"You did a good thing Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo said.

"What the hell are you talking about! It was a damn annoyance!" Li yelled.

"Li-kun you're so mean!" Eriol cooed. "It breaks my heart!" Li let out a loud growl before slamming his fist into his friend's head.

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!"

AN: Damn!! Finally done! Jeez! This took even longer than the last one. Sorry for taking like a month and four days to update. This chapter just wasn't flowing at all, so I had to rewrite so many times, and plus I had all this damn homework and essays to do! Jeez! I hate my teachers!! (Well not all of them, just all the damn work they give us) Well anyway, this chapter was mostly to show the kind of relationship Li and Eriol have with each other, not so much the situation in the village, which was why I didn't really develop it much. Li and Eriol's relationship though mostly is Eriol pulling a bunch of tricks and pranks on Li, who beats him up in response. And this was also to show that when Eriol has an idea he always pulls Li into it somehow. I based a lot of Eriol's antics on Fai/Fye/Fay, and you can probably connect Li's reactions to Kurogane, it wasn't intentional really, but I guess that the kind of relationship males have when they are polar opposites, who lot of yelling and fighting. Well anyway, I hope the next chapter won't take as long as this one, since I have it pretty planned out. So, here's the preview for the next chapter.

_Tomoyo: Kero-chan, have you noticed that Meilin always glares at Sakura? _

_Kero: Yeah it's like she's about to kill her at any moment. It's kind of creepy really. But that damn brat doesn't have anything on me! _

_Tomoyo: (giggle) Well those two are about to spend a lot of time together when they get trapped in a cave! _

_Kero: Really? Aw man, poor Sakura! _

_Tomoyo: It isn't going to be just talking either, seeing as the cave seems to be haunted. _

_Sakura: Haunted?!!!?! HOEEEEE!!!!!! _

_Tomoyo: So be sure to join us next time for "Sakura, Meilin and the Transparent Cave!" See you soon. _


	56. Sakura, Meilin and the Transparent Cave

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 56

The grass swayed as the cool wind gently brushed through the field making the leaves on the trees shake slightly. The sun shone warmly and brightly through clear skies despite the time of the year. It was supposed to be winter and yet the weather was similar to spring. Knowing that such weather was a rare occurrence, the group (mostly Eriol) thought it would be a good idea to have a picnic in the fields around them.

"Have a picnic? During winter?" Li asked with a scoff. "Of all the dumb ideas." Eriol smiled at his temperamental friend.

"Come on Li. It's the perfect weather," he chided. "Besides who knows when old man winter will show his ugly head. So we might as well enjoy the warm weather while we can."

"Besides, I'm sure Kero-chan would appreciate just sitting down and eating," Tomoyo added.

"Damn right!" Kero exclaimed in confirmation.

"You see?" Li just sighed and sat, no point in arguing. In a matter of minutes the group stretched out a blanket and made a spread of the leftover food they had received from Fujitaka, and some food they had made in the last town they had visited. Kero instantly started to dive in while the others carefully picked from his leftovers.

"Syaoran!" Meilin exclaimed as she pushed her chopsticks towards his mouth. "Say ahhh!!!"

"I can feed myself Meilin," the swordsman growled, but Meilin would not take no for an answer.

"Come on, say ahhh!"

"Ahhh," Li said dryly, making Meilin even more determined.

"Open your mouth," she growled.

"No."

"Open it!"

"No!"

"Open it!!"

"I said no!!!!" Meilin suddenly tackled Li to the ground, pinned down his arms with her hand, and began thrusting her chopsticks into Li's mouth. Li opened his mouth in protest, but Meilin kept filling it with food.

"See! Aren't I good cook Syaoran?" she asked with a proud smile on his face. Below her, Li's cheeks were the size of melons, his face was twisted together, and blue, a clear sign he was choking, but the small fact didn't seem to connect with Meilin. Li let out a few angry gags and gasps for air, but Meilin didn't pay them any mind. "Come on, say how good it is!" More agonized gags escaped Li's mouth, but once again Meilin didn't make the connection.

"See," Eriol chuckled. "He loves it!" Li glared daggers at Eriol, and somehow managed to get his "fiancé" off of him.

"Here," Sakura offered the chocking swordsman a cup of tea to help swallow all the food in his mouth. Li eagerly took the cup and after a few gulps finally managed to swallow.

"Damn it Meilin!" he yelled. "Are you trying to kill me?!" Meilin didn't respond, she was too busy glaring daggers at Sakura, who smiled nervously under the major killing intent she was feeling from the ruby-eyed girl.

"Come on Li, it's all in good fun," Eriol said.

"You call stuffing my mouth until I can barely breathe all in good fun! You're the doctor here! You're supposed speak against this stuff!"

"That, or I could just enjoy the expression on your face," Eriol replied. Li growled at the doctor and was about to draw his sword when Sakura floated a piece of chicken in front his face.

"Here try this," she said with a smile. "It's really good!" Li raised an eyebrow at her before taking the piece of food with his own chopsticks, and took a bite. "Good right?"

"I guess," he muttered, and went back to his food, forgetting about Eriol for now. Sakura was about to continue eating when she felt a very cold chill run down her spine. She carefully looked over her shoulder and saw Meilin's intense glare pointed at her. Sakura instantly shuddered, and tried to ignore her, but the cold feeling in her stomach wasn't fading.

"Kero-chan are you going to finish that?" Sakura asked nervously, still feeling Meilin's killing intent.

"Of course I am!" the beast exclaimed without hesitation, and began to stuff his face even more.

"Li," Sakura whispered, making Meilin's glare intensify. "She's glaring at me."

"Just ignore her," Li replied simply. "She's like that with everybody." Sakura felt her entire stomach freeze over when Meilin's killing intent reached its peak. Fearing her safety, Sakura went over to sit between Tomoyo and Eriol

"Scary," she squeaked. "If looks could kill….."

"It must be some odd family trait," Tomoyo said. "Although I don't remember Li's glares being this intense."

"It feels like she's about to kill me!" Sakura exclaimed softly. Eriol glanced over at Sakura, then smiled at Meilin.

"Meilin-chan," he said, which made the ruby-eyed girl instantly shift her glare to him. "Be a dear and go fetch some water. I'm afraid I used it all up."

"What the hell do I look like your maid!" she yelled back.

"You were for a time actually. Care for me to remind you?" the doctor asked with a sly smirk on his face. Meilin huffed and stood up.

"Fine, fine I'm going!" she grumbled, and stomped off, but not before shooting once last glare at Sakura. Li let out a sigh as he watched her march off grumbling to herself.

"Troublesome girl," he muttered.

"Feel better now?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded, and took a sigh of relief. She didn't think Meilin was a bad person or mean, it was just her glares were taking a toll on her. While they were walking, she could barely walk straight with the cold feeling in her stomach increasing with each glare shot her way by Meilin. Sakura honestly could not think of anything she might have done to Meilin to make her so cross wit her. She let out sigh as she picked up her chopsticks, she could only hope that Meilin would lighten up as time passed.

OOOOO

Meilin kicked a pebble clear over the horizon in rage as she marched towards a lake that was near the field. Her eyes were filled annoyance and anger as she kicked another pebble far across the lake and beyond, taking some flowers with it.

'That stupid Kinomoto!' she thought in rage. 'She thinks she can come out of nowhere and take Syaoran from me? Hell no! I'll show Syaoran that I'm way better than she is!' The ruby-eyed girl kicked two more pebbles across the lake before filling the bucket Eriol gave her with water. She turned around and was about to make her way back when a flower caught her attention. Meilin looked down and saw a pure white flower among a large field of red roses. Her eyes instantly softened as she carefully picked it, and examined it with wistful eyes.

"All right," she said out loud. "There has to be more of these. I'll gather them up and give them to Syaoran!" Meilin smiled at her plan as she thought of the outcome. Syaoran giving her a loving stare with Sakura crying in the background. The ruby-eyed girl snickered and began to look around the field for more white flowers.

She had been looking for almost thirty minutes when she felt the air around her suddenly drop. A cold breeze passed through her body, making her shiver. All of a sudden she felt something or someone behind her, breathing down her neck, making her heart race in fear. The ruby-eyed girl gulped before swing out her leg towards whoever was behind her, only to find she had kicked nothing but air. Meilin scanned the field, already in a fighting stance. There was something here, she knew it, she just couldn't see it.

"Who's there?!" she yelled. The air responded with another cold breeze. Meilin was about to go and get the others when an odd fog formed around her. Within a matter of moments Meilin could barely see her hand in front of her face, let alone the way she came. She felt her heart race as the fog only seemed to get thicker with each passing moment. The temperature in the air kept dropping until Meilin could see her breath. Her heart raced like a cheetah when she heard a sudden strong wind behind her. Taking another gulp, she looked over her shoulder and saw a cave that she didn't notice before. Seeing no other way, the young girl stepped inside of the cave hoping to wait until the fog lifted.

Unknown to her, the second she stepped inside, the cave disappeared.

OOOOO

Sakura felt a cold chill run down her spine, she felt her stomach freeze over as the chill pulsed through her body. She had felt this way before, and that was when a ghost was around. Sakura held in a whimper at the thought. Despite her last experience with one, she was still deathly afraid of ghosts, and that probably wouldn't change anytime soon. She let out a shudder when she felt it was close by.

"I wonder what's taking Meilin-chan so long?" Eriol wondered. "Did she get lost?"

"Well, she's always had a bad sense of direction," Li said.

"I don't think it was this bad." Li just scoffed and lay down.

"Whatever, she'll come back."

"Maybe someone should go look for her," Tomoyo suggested "She has been gone for a long time."

"I'll go," Sakura volunteered.

"Be my guest," Li replied.

"Are you sure Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked. "Meilin does seem to have something against you." Sakura just smiled at her friend.

"Don't worry. Maybe this is a good time to clear everything up. You never know, she could be a very kind person." Li barely resisted letting out a sarcastic snort.

"Don't you get lost too," Tomoyo said.

"Don't worry I won't," she assured Tomoyo, and walked towards where the feeling was getting stronger.

In a matter of minutes Sakura was shivering as if she was in snow. With every passing minute the temperature kept dropping, and a dense fog began to form. The cold feeling in her stomach only worsened when the fog surrounded her. It was filled with vengeful spirits, swarming around her like flies, screaming, yelling, moaning in her ears. Sakura covered her ears trying to drown out the sound, but they kept coming through. The girl collapsed to her knees, to scared to even open her eyes. She opened an eye slightly to see a cave not to far away. She felt something coming from the cave, but anything was better than this fog, and within seconds she sprinted towards the cave and out of the fog.

Unknown to her, a pair of red eyes were watching her from above.

OOOOO

When Meilin walked into the cave, she heard something. She looked over her shoulder, and saw that the fog had lifted, and the conditions seemed back to normal. When he tried to exit, she was suddenly thrown back by a barrier. Instinctively she attacked it with a kick, but she was thrown back again. Meilin let out a growl and started ramming her kicks against the barrier until she couldn't stand to kick on that leg anymore. After two seconds of rest, she moved onto the other leg with the same results.

"Damn it," she muttered out loud. "What the hell is this?" She looked over her shoulder and saw nothing but a narrow cave tunnel before her. Seeing that she had no other choice, Meilin decided to walk down the tunnel to where it would take her.

The cave only seemed to have that one passage, and from the looks of things, no secret passageways or traps. For a while Meilin smirked. She'd only be in here for a few minutes at the most. But she quickly reanalyzed the situation. There was only one passageway, and it was narrow, and there was a barrier blocking the only exit in her sight. There was only one conclusion that matched this description.

"It's trap." With the narrow passageway whoever the trapper was could sneak up on her, and with only one way to go, it would easily for her to be captured. And with the narrow passageway, there was not any room for her to maneuver, and if she did kick, she could only kick in a straightforward direction. Meilin let out a growl at the realization. She kicked the wall of the cave in frustration before walking down the passageway. Whoever trapped her like this was going to get hell from her when she found them.

OOOOO

Sakura carefully walked further into the cave, her heart beating erratically. She had thought the cave would be better than standing outside with the ghosts in the fog, but this was even worse. All throughout the cave she was feeling something dark and sinister, she also couldn't shake the feeling that something or someone was watching her. She carefully looked around her, but saw nothing out of place or odd. Despite that, her senses were screaming that something was wrong, and she had to leave now. Deciding that her senses knew more than her eyes, Sakura turned to leave when she was hurled back by the barrier around the entrance.

"What's this?" Sakura tried to walk out again, only to be hurled back. Panicking, the girl began to pound of the barrier with her small fists hoping someone would hear her, but no luck. She was about to give up when she saw Tomoyo outside looking around.

"Where's Sakura?" she wondered. "I hope nothing happened to her."

"Tomoyo-chan!!!!" Sakura yelled. "Tomoyo-chan!! I'm here! Over here!" She tried waving, and pounding on the barrier, trying to get her attention, but to no avail. "Tomoyo-chan please!! I'm here!!!"

"I wonder where Sakura-chan, and Meilin-san are. I hope they're okay," Tomoyo muttered worriedly. She looked over to where the cave should have been, but in her eyes there was no cave, just more fields. Tomoyo turned around and went to search in another area, making Sakura's face fall.

"What's going on? Why couldn't she she see me?" she wondered. Sakura shook her head, and decided the best course of action was to walk through this cave and hope there was a way out. She gulped, and took several breathes before walking down the dark corridor.

A pair of red eyes were watching her the entire time.

"Two this time eh? Aren't I the fortunate one! This one has great magical power, while the other one has great physical power. I'll enjoy eating theme!" the figure laughed sinisterly and disappeared.

OOOOO

Meilin let out a growl as she walked down the passageway. She had been walking for thirty minutes, and from the looks of things, she was no where close to the exit. The scenery wasn't necessarily changing either, she could have sworn she passed the same rock at least four times already. Gritting her teeth in frustration, the young kick slammed her leg against the wall, making the entire cave shake. She could have been alerting her presence to whoever set up this trap, but at that moment, Meilin was more concerned with getting out of there than stealth.

She was about to keep walking when she felt her left shoulder suddenly slice open. It happened so fast, Meilin couldn't see who or what did it. Before she knew it, she was laying face down on the the cave floor surrounded by a pool of her own blood. Meilin tried to move the attacked arm, but when a shot of immense pain ripped through her body, it was enough to give her the message not to move that arm. A sinister chuckle echoed through the tunnel, making Meilin's blood boil.

"Who's there!" she yelled. "Come out bastard!" The chuckle only continued, which made Meilin even more enraged. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, Meilin got to her feet readied herself for whatever was coming her way.

"Looks like that wound isn't deep enough," a dark voice chucked. "Oh well, it's more fun this way." Meilin scanned the entire tunnel head to toe, but she couldn't see anything. But there was clearly something there.

"Where are you! Come out you damn coward so I can kick your ass!" she yelled which only caused another round of dark chuckling.

"Which is exactly why I will not come out." At that moment, the chuckling suddenly stopped, and Meilin became tense. The ruby-eyed girl once again scanned the tunnel for any signs of her foe, but to no avail. She was suddenly rammed to the ground, and felt her foot being pulled by something. Within seconds, her back slammed against the wall, and she slowly slid to the ground.

"Bastard," she muttered. "Where are you!" The voice laughed completely, making Meilin's skin crawl, and her heart beat faster.

"You can't see me at all can you? You must have absolutely no magical powers at all then." Meilin let out a growl as she gripped her wounded shoulder.

"So what! If you come out I'll show you that I can make up for that!" Meilin was suddenly pinned up against the wall by something hard, and sharp. Whatever the sharp ends were, they were piercing into her ribs, making her face twist in pain, but she refused to cry out. The voice let out another dark laugh as it held Meilin against the wall.

"If you can't see me, you can't fight at all," it laughed as the sharp ends dug deeper into her body, making Meilin grit her teeth. "You can't do anything at all! Without magic, you can't beat me, you can't even save yourself. In the end you are nothing but a worthless little girl!"

Meilin's eyes snapped open at the last comment. Her blood boiled, and she gritted her teeth, trying to calm herself, but was failing miserably. The pain in her shoulder and ribs dissolved, as her body gave into her anger, making her eyes flare up with pure rage.

"What...did...you...say...?" she asked slowly. The voice laughed again, making Meilin smell its awful breath.

"Deaf too are we? I said your pathetic. Worthless! Weak!" At that moment Meilin's leg slammed against something as hard as a rock, but felt something soft as well. The wall on the other side of the tunnel suddenly had a large hole in it, and the sharp ends piercing her body were gone.

"I dare you to say what you just said again!" she growled.

"What just happened! How did you hit me!" the voice said shocked, but quickly recovered. "No matter, you can't see me so your helpless!" The voice suddenly stopped, but Meilin didn't panic. She suddenly shot out her left foot to her side, and it collided with the same substance, making whatever was there fly back.

"Want to try that again bastard!" she yelled. But when nothing answered back, she knew that either whatever was there was dead, or it escaped. Meilin had to go with the last one. If whatever was there had died, it probably would have become visible to her. Meilin growled as she sprinted down the tunnel. She would make that bastard pay for calling her weak!

OOOOO

Sakura walked carefully down the tunnel. The cave was just screaming dark to her. Her heart was pounding, and her hands shook periodically. This tunnel just reminded her of all the stories her brother would tell her about the ghosts he saw often. She wouldn't be able to see them completely, but she could feel their presence, and it wasn't a good feeling at all. This cave was giving her that exact same feeling, and she was terrified. Sakura a series of deep breaths to calm herself. In order to get out she had to walk through this tunnel, no matter how scary it felt. When she felt her heart slow down, Sakura continued her walk down the tunnel.

The second she took a step, everything froze.

The damp air in the tunnel became cold, and her heart suddenly sped up. Her breath was caught in her throat as her stomach froze over. Every inch of her body was screaming for her to duck or dive forward. Trusting her senses, the girl dove to the floor, and felt something pass over her. Once the feeling passed, Sakura got to her feet, and stared at the opponent in front of her.

The creature was about the size of two horses and had the sharp crushing teeth of a crocodile. The demon was crouched down on all fours ready to strike at any given moment. It's red eyes looked at Sakura up and down as its tongue licked its lips. The monster had dark brown skin, and a round head with a long horn that curved near the tip on the top of his head. In the middle of its arms and legs were green clumps of fur that looked like some kind of decoration. The demon drew its claws and launched itself at Sakura.

Sakura dove in between its legs and fired a blast of wind at it, making it slide forward slightly. The demon jumped onto the celling of the cave, and launched itself towards Sakura with its claws pointed at her chest. Sakura quickly back flipped away from the attack and blew the monster back four feet with her wind.

"What! How is this possible! How are you dodging my attacks!" the monster yelled. Sakura looked at it quizzically. What is it talking about? Didn't it know its attacks were easy enough to spot, and the creature itself wasn't exactly inconspicuous either. The monster growled before lunging towards Sakura with a slash. The young girl quickly flipped over the monster and blew it back with another wind attack.

Sakura could tell from her last attack that her wind wasn't very effective against the beast. The monster was nimble, but sturdy, and strong. She would need a weapon if she wanted to beat it, but from the looks of things there weren't any sticks around for her to form her staff. The monster suddenly launched itself at her, bearing its sharp fangs and claws at her. Sakura shot out both arms, releasing a powerful gust of wind that blew back the monster all the way down the tunnel. Knowing it wasn't a good idea to leave it alone, Sakura quickly chased after the monster, hoping that defeating it would get her out of this cave.

OOOOO

Meilin sprinted down the tunnel with fury in her eyes from the monster's comments at her earlier. She wasn't sure how she was going to go about it, but she assured herself that she would make that bastard pay for what he said to her. Even if she couldn't see it, she could still kick is ass.

She whirled around a corner, and suddenly bumped into something. Quickly assuming it was monster, Meilin shot out her leg in a blind fury, but was met with a loud,

"Hoeeee!!!!!!" Meilin quickly pulled back her leg, and saw Sakura with her arms over her head shaking.

"What are you doing here?" she asked the emerald-eyed girl.

"Looking for you...?" Sakura replied uneasily. "But this cave trapped me in here, and a weird monster attacked me."

"Same here," Meilin said. "I'm going to make that bastard pay for sure!" She was about to sprint down the tunnel when Sakura grabbed her wrist.

"Meilin-san, we should probably stick together." Meilin instantly shot a stone cold glare at her.

"Let...go..." she growled. "I don't need your help!"

"That's probably true, but if we both start wandering off we'll be easier targets for it. Besides if the others come looking for us we'll be easier to find," Sakura reasoned. Meilin gave her another glare before complying with a loud huff.

"Fine we'll stick together. But stay out of my way when that thing comes back. It's all mine got it?!" Sakura laughed nervously as she agreed with her enraged companion.

"Yes of course." When Meilin was about to run off again, Sakura once again stopped her. "We should probably stay here too. We'll be easier to find if we stay in one place." Meilin growled at her.

"You mean you want me to just sit here and wait!?" she yelled. Sakura let out an uneasy laugh as she nodded. "No way!! I hate waiting for anything!!"

"It might not even be all that long," Sakura offered trying to calm her down. Meilin once again glared at her before sitting down.

"Fine, we'll wait! But only 10 minutes! Once that's done I'm going after that thing got it?" Sakura nodded and sat next to the other girl carefully, half expecting her to yell at her, but Meilin merely just let out a huff, acknowledging Sakura's presence next to her.

The minutes with an uncomfortable silence between them. Sakura wanted to break the silence, but there was no telling how Meilin would react. The ruby-eyed girl would probably yell at her, glare, and just ignore her completely. Sakura let out a sigh, and decided to bite the bullet.

"Um...so...how long have you known Li and Eriol?" she asked, wisely picking a topic she knew Meilin was comfortable with, and had a lot to say about.

"Since we were kids," Meilin answered simply.

"Are they any different now than they were before?"

"No. Not at all." Another period of silence passed between them.

"So...who...taught you to fight with just your kicks like that?" Sakura asked after two minutes.

"Wei taught me the basics, but I had to figure out the fancy stuff myself."

"Wei-san?"

"He's one of Li's mother's cousins. He's been with us since we were little," she whispered.

"I'm sure he's a kind person." Meilin raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know that?"

"Because you seem a little happier now." Meilin seemed a little taken aback, but quickly regained her angry composure.

"Hey," the ruby-eyed girl said after another minute. "I know how you ended up with Li, but why did you decide to go with him? I mean didn't your parents teach not to go with strangers?" Sakura let out sigh as she searched for the answer within herself.

"I don't really know," she replied finally. "I just had a feeling that I should follow him. I can't really explain it." When Meilin glared at her Sakura realized the misunderstanding. "It wasn't love or anything if that's what your thinking!"

"Good. It had better not be."

"Your really attached to Li aren't you?"

"Damn right."

"Why?" Meilin looked away as her eyes softened slightly.

"Because for a while he was the only person who believed in me," she muttered.

"What about your parents?"

"My mom died when I was six."

"Your dad?"

"We aren't exactly on speaking terms."

"What do you mean?" Meilin suddenly stood up.

"It means I friggin HATE THE BASTARD!!!!!!!!" she yelled and slammed her foot against the wall, making the entire cave shake slightly.

"I'm sorry. I never should have brought it up. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." At that moment, Sakura eyes widened when she saw the monster appear out of no where and lunge at Meilin.

"Meilin-chan look out!" Meilin turned but didn't make any motion to move. The ruby-eyed girl stared back at Sakura with a raised eyebrow. Sakura's panic levels rose to their breaking point when she saw the demon's claws head straight for Meilin's neck. Taking matters into her own hands, Sakura dove at Meilin and tackled her to the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack.

"What the hell is your problem Kinomoto!" she yelled.

"The monster's here!" Sakura exclaimed as if it was obvious. Meilin smirked as Sakura got up. The second she got to her feet, Meilin shot out kick, but it collided with nothing but air. The girl tried again only to be met with more air. Sakura gasped when she saw the demon come in from behind the ruby-eyed girl.

"Where are you bastard!" Meilin yelled as she kicked blindly at the air.

"Meilin-chan it's behind you!" Sakura warned. The other girl quickly whirled around and slammed her foot into the creature's face, knocking it back ten feet.

"You can see this thing?" Meilin asked in realization.

"You can't?" Sakura replied quizzically. Their conversation was cut short when the monster slammed its large on Meilin's body, pinning her to the ground.

"It doesn't matter who can see me, and who can't," the demon laughed. "You'll both end up in my stomach!" Meilin struggled with all her might, but she could slide out of whatever had her pinned down. Whatever it was, it was extremely strong.

"Watery!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed. A strong blast of water shot at the monster, knocking it off of Meilin, and gave the ruby-eyed girl a chance to jump up and nail it in the chest. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," the other girl replied, but she winced when she felt that her wound had reopened. Sakura gasped when she saw the cut.

"That's a terrible wound Meilin-chan!" Meilin ignored her and the pain and rushed at the monster.

"Where is it now!?" she asked her companion. Sakura quickly scanned the area, and saw it on the celling preparing to strike.

"On the ceiling A little bit to the left." Meilin nodded at the information, and pushed off against the wall, launching herself into the air. Her kick collided with the demon's head, knocking it off the ceiling. As it fell, Sakura whipped out Watery again and knocked the monster back a few feet. When the water faded away, the creature looked up just in time to see Meilin's foot collide with his chest. Just as it hunched over, Meilin jumped slammed another kick into its chin, knocking it on its back. But the ruby-eyed girl wasn't finished yet. As she flipped to regain her balance, she placed her feet together, and slammed them onto the demon's stomach as she landed.

"You bitches!!!!" the demon yelled. "I'll kill you all!" The monster let out a loud roar before launched itself full speed at the two girls.

"Meilin-chan get behind me, I have an idea!" Sakura exclaimed. Meilin nodded and back flipped behind Sakura as she shot out both her arms creating a very power blast of wind. Because it was in the air, the creature was blown back even further than before. Within seconds the demon flew back all the way back to the beginning of the cave. A loud cry echoed throughout the cave as the monster collided with its own barrier, making Sakura and Meilin rush towards it. When they reached they saw the entrance to the cave, and carefully placed their hand towards the entrance. When they weren't thrown back, they knew the barrier was broken, and quickly rushed outside.

"Finally!" Meilin exclaimed. "Outside at last!" Sakura looked around and saw that the monster was escaping into the woods near the cave.

"It's getting away!" she warned Meilin, who quickly chased after it. Knowing that her companion wouldn't catch up, Sakura whipped out another card.

"Woody! Bind!" she ordered. Within seconds the branches of the trees sprang to life wrapped themselves around the demon, instantly trapping it. "Meilin-chan finish it off!" Meilin smirked at the signal, and jumped into the air.

"With pleasure!" she yelled back. The girl twisted her body so that her back was parallel to the ground and began spinning. In a blink of an eye Meilin had turned herself into a airborne human drill and was heading straight for the bound the demon. "Now take this bastard!! Dragon Drill!!!!!!!" Meilin blew through the chest of the demon like paper, and landed with grace while the monster fell lifelessly to the ground.

"We did it!!!" Sakura cheered as she ran towards her companion.

"You know, you called me "Meilin-chan" a couple of times back there," Meilin growled, shattering Sakura's happy mood.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know you don't like to be called that! I'm sorry!" Sakura apologized frantically. But it proved all for nothing when a laugh escaped Meilin lips. Sakura was quite taken aback at the new development.

"Don't worry about it," Meilin reassured her. "It doesn't sound so bad coming from you." Sakura smiled. She knew from the start Meilin wasn't all that bad.

"Hey you guys!!!!" a voice called from above them. The girls looked up and saw Kero and the others heading towards them.

"Are you guys alright?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded.

"We came to warn you about a powerful demon we heard some passerby talking about, that eats people and takes their powers!" Eriol said. "He even said that it can even make itself invisible to those who don't have a large amount of magical power. And because it has eaten some priests and priestesses, it can make a barrier, making whatever the barrier surrounds invisible to everyone except who the creature wants to eat. You guys didn't happen to run into this thing did you?"

Sakura and Meilin looked at each other, then at the group, and then back at each other before breaking into smiles, and in a matter of seconds a full blown laughing fit.

"What's so funny?" Kero asked. "Come on I want to know! Tell me!" Sakura and Meilin couldn't even answer, their laughter was taking up all the air in their lungs.

"Is this what they call an inside joke?" Eriol asked Tomoyo.

"I suppose so," she replied. "But one thing is for sure, they certainly have made a complete turn around in their relationship in only an hour."

"Must be something in the air," Li muttered as he watched the two girls continue laugh their heads off. "Yep, defiantly something in the air."

"Come tell me! What's so funny! Come on!" Kero nagged. "Tell me come on!!!!" Sakura and Meilin tried to calm themselves but their laughs were too uncontrollable. Li just rolled his eyes and walked off.

"Come get me when they stopped," he muttered.

Meilin didn't even bother chasing after him.

AN: Well there's another chapter down. I finished this one much later than I expected, since it was the holidays, and got distracted a lot. My family kept throwing these parties throughout the week so it was impossible for me to get to my computer because I had to watch my little cousins and make sure they didn't destroy the house. (Sigh) That was tiring. On a better note though, my Christmas ROCKED!!!!!!! I got a portable DVD player. The PS2 game _God of War_ (that game kicks ass by the way) and even better I got A NEW COMPUTER!!!! YAY!!!!!! Let me explain, I've had my old computer since we moved into our house (which was practically eight years ago) so it was pretty old. It kept freezing at random moments, it was slow, and sometimes it wouldn't even turn on! But now this new one is awesome! It's much smaller than my last one, and has a much faster Internet connection. And with this new computer I can update 5x faster than before! Let me explain again. Since my old computer was crap, the only working computer in the house was the one in the basement. The problem was, both my older sister and I are computer buffs, we can spend hours on end o the computer. So when I would be on it, typing up chapters, she would ask me if I could get off so she could get on. And so, being the kind younger brother that I am, I would stop what I was doing, and let her get on. She would stay on until 11 pm. Since most times this happens on school nights, I would have to go to bed by then. So most times I would only get less than half a page done on my chapters. But with this new computer I can be on it as long as I want without any interruptions!!! YAY!!!! Plus she got a new laptop so she can stay on that as long as she wants too! It's perfect. Anyway, about the fic, I plan on doing this whole "relationship arc" for another four more chapters. I guess you could call filler too, but whatever. Then I'll do a Sakura focused chapter, a fillerish chapter after than, a four chapter arc, then we're back into the plot! (If you want to call it that. Does this story really even have a plot?) Anyway that's the plan for those who are wondering when I'll get back to the main storyline. Don't think you'll get away with skipping those chapters. There is a method to my madness and if you skip those filler chapters you'll miss somethings, and some build up. So read carefully! So anyway here's a preview for the next chapter! And guess what, it's Eriol and Tomoyo focused! (ET fans: Yay!!)

_Sakura: Tomoyo-chan has such a beautiful singing voice, and Eriol-kun can play beautiful music with the piano. Huh? There's a singing contest? You guys should enter! You'll win for sure! _

_Meilin: I can sing quite beautifully myself! Maybe I should enter!_

_Kero: Moving that idea aside. What starts off as fun and games becomes something more as all the singer's voices are stolen! _

_Meilin: Who the hell would want to steal voices? _

_Sakura: To find out, you'll just have to tune in for "Eriol, Tomoyo and the Ghost of Song!" Wait...ghost? Hoeeeeee!!!!!!! _


	57. The Ghost of Song

Seven Deadly Jewels

AN: I obviously do not own any of the songs I use in this ch.

Chapter 57

"I'm hungry," Kero groaned. The others let out a groan as they laid about in the hotel they managed to rent in town, with the last of their money. They had eaten the last of Fujitaka's lunches a couple of days ago, which spelled torture for the endless stomach that was Kero.

"You're always hungry you damn stomach on legs," Li growled.

"This time I really mean it!" the beast shot back. "Can we get something to eat in the next town?"

"Bad news," Eriol chuckled. "We're out of money." Kero's jaw dropped.

"Why is it we're always out of money when we need it the most!? It's not fair!!!!! I'm starving!!!!!"

"That's life for you," Eriol replied with a shrug.

"Well while your examining life, I'm freakin' starving over here!" Kero yelled.

"Do you ever stop complaining you stupid bath sponge!" Meilin shouted in frustration.

"Watch your mouth little girl!" Kero countered, only making Meilin ten times more angry.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!!!!!!?"

"You heard what I said!" Sakura just sighed as he watched the two. She had learned it was better to solve the problem than wasting her energy trying to stop two hot heads from fighting.

"We better find some money or food fast before Meilin-chan decides to eat Kero," she said to Tomoyo.

"I think she would prefer it that way though," Tomoyo replied with a giggle.

"Hell, I would," Li agreed, with a smirk at the thought of eating the troublesome beast.

"I don't think it would solve our money problem though," Tomoyo replied.

"It'd make me feel better," Li muttered.

"I think our best option is to go into town and see what jobs we can find," Eriol suggested.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find something. So it won't be long until you get to eat Kero-chan," Sakura reassured the beast.

"You promise?" he asked.

"I'm positive."

The town was a fairly normal sized town with normal sized wooden houses and shops. The people walking about were not armed and gave off no feelings of fear, which meant there was no demon problem to be found here. Aside from a few half-interested looks, the arrival of the group was not acknowledged at all. The town was fortunate enough to not have any tragedies or villains in their mists, but for the group it meant that find a job would be much harder than they expected. At this discovery, Kero let out a loud groan.

"Arg!!! You mean this town is actually peaceful! It'll be impossible to find a job now!" Eriol chuckled at this.

"You actually planned on profiting on others misfortunes?"

"If it means getting fed then hell yeah!" Li smacked the beast over his head.

"You have no shame."

"What do we do now?" Meilin asked.

"I guess we could go to the next town?" Sakura suggested. Kero yelled out in protest.

"No way!! It could take forever to get there and I'm starving now! I refuse to wait!" While the others talked amongst themselves for the next course of action, Tomoyo took note of a young woman dressed in an expensive looking kimono. It was white with a daisy pattern around the gown that went up to the sleeves. The skirt went to down to her feet covering her just as expensive looking sandals.

"Interesting," she muttered.

"Did you see something intriguing Tomoyo-san?" Eriol asked.

"I guess," she figured with a shrug. "It's just that, that woman over there is the fifth woman I've seen dressed in such an expensive kimono." Eriol followed her eyes and took note of the woman himself.

"She must have fine tastes," he observed. "That silk only comes from the domains in the south. The silk is a rare type that only comes from the continent." Tomoyo nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I've seen it before myself, but for such a simple and normal town, don't you think she is a little overdressed?" Eriol looked over to another woman who was walking by in a red fiery kimono with a just as red sun umbrella.

"Yes quite. I doubt they are rich girls of this town. I didn't see any mansions while we walked in. I wonder what the occasion is?"

"Singing Tournament," an old man passing by answered simply. Eriol and Tomoyo looked at the old man.

"Excuse me sir?" Tomoyo asked.

"A singing tournament," the man repeated. "This region holds one twice a year every three years. It used to be a simple gathering of our neighbors for good laughs and fun. The prize never really mattered to anyone, just the chance to share memories and enjoyment with neighbors with good singing in the background was good enough. But now..." he trailed off as he looked at another richly dressed girl, who quickly turned her nose up at him.

"I assume the rich dressed women we've been seeing has changed the contest for the worst. Correct?" Eriol asked. The old man nodded.

"Those girls walked in here like they owned the place, and began changing everything! At first it was little things, like an increase in the prize money, a slight entrance fee, and judges. But soon they began to go out of control! All of a sudden only those of "enriched" background could enter, contestants had to have their own musician, and soon we couldn't even attend our own event. Those harpies changed everything!"

"How are they able to do that?" Tomoyo asked. "They were outsiders were they not?"

"True, but along with the prize, the winner gets to decide things for the next one. I honestly wish we could change things, but they made it so that only winners could complain! I want things to go back to the way they were so badly, but I can't do anything," he said bitterly.

Eriol and Tomoyo looked at each other, then the old man, then back at each other with the same mischievous grins on their faces, and the same glint in their eyes.

"Mister," Tomoyo said. "Where do we sign up?"

OOOOO

"Now explain to me what your doing again?" Li asked as they followed the two towards an entrance booth.

"Eriol-kun and I are entering a singing tournament," Tomoyo replied for the third time. Sakura smiled at the idea.

"I'm sure you'll do great Tomoyo-chan! You always won the contests back home."

"Hey if it's singing I should enter too! My voice kicks ass!" Meilin declared as she took a deep breath to demonstrate. In a flash Li clamped his hand over her mouth.

"The last time you sang I was deaf for over a week!" he growled in her ear.

"I was singing you a lullaby that time!" The others sweatdropped at this and decided to ignore it for now.

"Anyway, moving that thought aside," Kero said. "You sure the prize money is good enough for us to buy some food?" Tomoyo and Eriol both smiled and shrugged, making Kero fall over. "You guys are entering a contest where you know absolutely nothing about the prize!!?!?"

"More or less," Eriol answered as he signed his name next to Tomoyo's under "musician."

"You guys will win," Sakura said confidently. "I know it."

"Thank you for your confidence Sakura-san."

"Although I think it's wasted!" a high pitched, stuck-up voice replied. The group turned around to see a blond haired young girl with green eyes looking at them as if they were dirty dogs in her path. She wore a purple kimono with a pattern of pink roses and red roses that went up to the middle of her back. But the most eye-catching part of her kimono was the fact that the fold near her chest was so low cut that even if she bent down at the slightest angle, it seemed as if her bust would pop out of the kimono. The deep breast line that her kimono showed was proof enough for the reason. Her lips wore a deep red rouge that Eriol recognized extremely expensive and rare. Behind her were two girls dressed in plain robes, carrying heavy luggage.

"And who might I inquire are you?" Eriol asked. The girl scoffed at him, and turned her nose up at the doctor as she responded.

"Chikira Moritoma," she answered as if it was a chore. "And you fools have absolutely no chance in winning this contest. Only those of the highest quality are able to enter anyway."

"And you are?" Meilin asked. The girl known as scoffed again Chikira snapped her fingers, signaling for one of her servants to answer for her.

"The mistress is the daughter of Lord Moritoma. The great general who defeated the Irikino clan in a great military counterattack!" Chikira smacked her over the head.

"Don't go into that boring political stuff it gives me a headache. Tell them about me fool!" Her servant bowed apologetically and began her mistress' monologue again. "Mistress Chikira has been the singing champion in this region for nine straight years in a row. Her voice they claim can ensnare the gods themselves into a trance!"

"And it's about to be ten years in a row," Chikira giggled obnoxiously as she signed her name on the sign-up list. "There's no way a couple of common losers like yourselves can beat me. Which of you are entering anyway?" Eriol and Tomoyo raised their hands, their smiles having yet to drop.

"I'll be singing," Tomoyo answered.

"And I am providing the music," Eriol said. Chikira looked at them quizzically before breaking into another obnoxious giggle.

"You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed as she attempted to hold in her laughs, but failing miserably. "And you actually think you can win? Give me a break!"

"Oh?" Eriol asked, seemingly unaffected by Chikira's laughs. "And what is so odd about us believing we can win?" Chikira looked at him as if he was crazy before laughing again.

"What's strange about it? Everything that's what!" the wealthy girl turned her attention to Eriol first. "First off, you four eyes, look like you stepped out a mud puddle with those clothes! Dark blue and black? Blah!"

"Well black is one of my favorite colors," Eriol chuckled. Chikira ignored him, and turned to Tomoyo.

"And you!" Chikira just laughed again as she looked over the dark-haired girl. "Oh god, where do I start? Your hair is a mess! Who does it your blind, brain damaged mother? And your clothes! Oh god don't me started! They just scream peasant! Then again I guess clothes do reflect the wearer." Despite the tirade of insults, Eriol and Tomoyo kept smiling at Chikira.

"Leave Tomoyo-chan alone!" Sakura exclaimed. "Who are you to judge her?" Chikira looked over Sakura, and gave her a "are you serious?" look before turning back to Tomoyo and Eriol.

"Who's that, your servant or something? She looks even worse than you two! Your hair is the worst I've ever seen! What's up with the tiny, nonexistent pigtails when your hair is shorter than my pinky finger!"

"Excuse me," Tomoyo said softly, but Chikira ignored her and moved on to Meilin.

"And you! Your clothes are just pathetic! You clearly do not have the thighs for that skirt!" Meilin instantly fumed.

"What was that!" she yelled with plenty of killing intent.

"What's up with the long sleeves? Are you trying to hide your fat sagging skin or something? Jeez what a stupid style, then again like I said before, the clothes reflect the wearer." At this point Meilin had heard much more than she could stand with this girl. The ruby-eyed fighter pulled back her leg, as Chikira turned around in a huff, ready to kick the snotty girl's head clean off.

"Judge this bitch!!!" Meilin growled as she was about to hurl the kick, but Eriol suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Let's not make a scene Meilin-chan," he said softly. Chikira then turned to give Li a taste of her wrath, who had his eyes closed, trying to ignore the entire scene.

"And you!" she started getting inches away from his face. Li eyes opened slowly, and fixated themselves into a glare. Chikira couldn't stand looking into his eyes for a second. It felt as if her insides were slowly freezing inside of her.

"What?" Li asked coldly. Chikira just turned away and shook of the feeling before starting her tirade again.

"You morons hold no candles against me," Chikira giggled again. "I guess expect to see you guys in the loser circle! Ta Ta!" With that the rich girl went off with two other girls dressed in rich kimonos as well. The second she was gone, Meilin let her built up kick fly and it completely destroyed a cart.

"My cabbages!!!!" the old vendor exclaimed. "You! Do I expect you to...!" Meilin turned her head, and glared daggers at the old man, clearly still enraged.

"You...expect...what?" she asked dangerously. The vendor quickly clammed up in deep fear and slowly backed away.

"N-n-n-n-never mind!"

"What a mean person!" Sakura said.

"The next time I see that bitch I swear I'll kick her head clean off!" Meilin growled.

"Oh I don't know, I thought she was actually kind of entertaining!" Eriol laughed. "What do you think Tomoyo-san?"

"Yes she was. It was a nice little side-show," Tomoyo agreed.

"How can you guys say that when she insulted you so much?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah if it were me that bitch would be dead right now!" Meilin growled.

"Not everyone has your extremely short temper brat," Kero said.

"What was that bath sponge!" Kero just shrugged at her.

"See what I mean?" Before Meilin could kill him, the beast flew over to the two contestants. "Do you guys know what you're going to sing?" Eriol and Tomoyo looked at each other before replying cheerfully,

"No." Kero fell over.

"What's up with that!?" the beast yelled.

"When does the contest begin?" Sakura asked.

"In two hours," Eriol replied carelessly.

"And thirty minutes," Tomoyo added. The group sweatdropped at them.

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!" Kero bellowed. "I'M GOING TO STRAVE TO DEATH AT THIS RATE!!!!!!!!"

"Calm down Kero-chan," Eriol said. "I already have a plan."

"This should be good," Li muttered. Eriol turned to Tomoyo, and placed his index and middle fingers on the center of her forehead.

"Tomoyo-chan," he said softly as his fingers began to glow white. "I want you to think of all the songs you have sung in your life okay?" The dark-haired girl nodded as her eyes began to slowly drop; Eriol did the same. The group watched as the two remained motionless for two long minutes.

"What's Eriol-kun doing?" Sakura asked.

"Scanning her memories," Li answered simply.

"He can do that?" Sakura asked in amazement. Li shrugged.

"More or less." After another four minutes, Eriol eyes snapped open.

"All right! We're ready!" he exclaimed.

OOOOO

As the sun began to drift down past the hills, the entire town gathered in the center, ready to watch the tournament. Despite the rather large amount of spectators there were only a few chairs set up around the stage. The rich looking spectators quickly filled up the chairs while the inhabitants of the town stood together in crowed bunches around the perimeter of the town center.

The stage was a simple construction. It was a simple large wooden square that wasn't too far off the ground. There was a long narrow portion that lead the singer to face the judges that were seated at a table in front of the stage. The judges were three middle aged men dressed in rich looking robes, with eyes looking at the stage intently. A man walked onto the stage, and announced that all contestants report to it in order to prepare.

"Tomoyo-chan, Eriol-kun good luck," Sakura said cheerfully.

"Be sure to win some money!" Kero yelled.

"Don't lose to that Chikira bitch!" Meilin exclaimed.

"Aren't you going to wish me luck Li?" Eriol asked playfully.

"It's not like you need it," Li muttered. Eriol gasped in amazement.

"You actually have faith me? This is a first! Give me a hug my dear friend!" Li punched his friend in the face as his response.

"Get your ass on stage."

"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the 50'th annual Reitsu region's Sining Tournament," a middle aged man man announced. "As you can see we have quite the amount of contestants, but only one and her partner will be able to win the prize!"

The contestants stepped onto the stage and stood together as a group with their instrumental partners behind them. Tomoyo looked over her rivals and saw Chikira standing in between two girls, one of them had bright pink hair in a high bun. She wore a orange kimono with various flower patterns. The other one had plain brown hair, and had a sky blue kimono with a cloud pattern.

As Tomoyo looked over the contestants, she herself felt very out of place. With no money to buy a kimono, and her previous kimono, the one she had worn when she went to the festival with Sakura with Yukito, she had left with Fujitaka. Seeing their dilemma, Eriol had released his house from the crystal ball he had sealed it in. The doctor gave her what he described "a dress for a winner." But retrospect she felt more like an outsider than in a winner in her outfit. Eriol had given her to wear a dark purple dress that covered her feet, and a pair of purple earrings along with a golden bracelet and necklace. At first Tomoyo had questioned where he had gotten these items, remembering how much Eriol loved to flirt, but then he had answered with,

"They were my older sister's."

At that moment, Tomoyo was sure if she could wear it. She had seen the wistful look in his eyes, but before she could decline he had put the dress in her hands and walked off to allow her to change. Tomoyo was sure that his sister was a sensitive topic for the doctor and decided not to say anything.

'But still,' she thought. 'These items must mean a great deal to him. I'm surprised he would let practically a complete stranger wear it.' She looked over to the doctor, who was a wearing a black tuxedo with two tails in the back. When he saw her look at him, he gave her a smile and returned his attention to the announcer, who was explaining the rules.

"And now let the contest begin!"

OOOOO

For Tomoyo, the contest was going by agonizingly slow. By a drawing, she and Eriol had to go last, which meant they had to wait while the other contestants vocalized what they called singing. While Tomoyo was generally a kind and helpful person, she couldn't help but think what in the world were these girls thinking? Many could not sing at all. One girl practically screamed out an entire song while her instrumental partner clumsily played flat notes on a flute. By some twist the girl actually managed to move on the next round. She had heard from the audience it was only because she was the daughter of a feudal lord. There were a few pleasant performances. Like a girl named Kana who sang a beautiful lullaby with the accompaniment of a violin. And another named Yuka who sang a very splendid song about a father and daughter while playing the Shamisen. (AN: A three stringed Japanese guitar. Usually played by Geishas)

When it was finally Chikira's turn, she led Tomoyo to question how she managed to win this contest for nine years in a row. The rich girl sang many notes out of key, she sang high when she should have sang low, and in some sections forgot the words, and made up lyrics as she went. Tomoyo was sure the judges would rule her out when Chikira pretended to drop something as she walked back to the other contestants who had waited backstage.

"Oops," she said innocently, and bent over to pick it up. Which gave practically a full view of her large bust to the judges. Blood instantly ran down their noses, and they gave the girl a thirty out of thirty. Tomoyo just sighed. Now she understood.

"I see," Eriol said in realization. "So that's how she's been winning. I would call it cheating, but since she didn't really bring in anything extra I guess it's fair. Those were sure three lucky men though."

"Eriol-kun!"

"I don't suppose you would want me to cast a spell on your own chest Tomoyo-chan? "

"Of course Eriol-kun," Tomoyo playfully agreed, catching onto his joke. "I feel completely inferior compared to Ms. Chikira. Please rid me of this flat board I call a chest." The two shared a good soft laugh as another girl used her assets to get to the next round.

"Next is Tomoyo Daidouji and her partner, Eriol Hiiragizawa!" After hearing the announcement, Tomoyo took a deep breath, and walked out to the stage.

"Tomoyo-chan, Eriol-kun do your best!" Sakura cheered from the audience. Tomoyo gave her best friend a smile as she walked onto the stage.

"You don't suppose Tomoyo is going to use the same method as Chikira do you?" Kero asked, his nose still dripping with blood from Chikira's performance. Meilin slapped the beast to the ground.

"Perverted bath sponge," she muttered. Tomoyo looked over to Eriol, who was already sitting at the piano he had created and somehow managed to get on the stage. He flashed a smile, showing her that he was ready, and Tomoyo took a deep breath as Eriol began to play the introduction. Once he reached the point where she was to sing, Tomoyo took another deep breath before singing.

"_When I am lonely, I seek warmth_

_I trace far into the distance my dear memories__Holding her beloved child in her arms,__a mother sings a lullaby under the sun.__On the cheek of an infant playing in the dreamland,__a fairy makes dimples of happiness._ _Even after being woken from a dream, a smile lingers__Such a seed of kindness remains in the heart._ _When a stretched heart is released, it is able to fly__Its seed of kindness has been freed._ _Before long, my eyes will see the festival floats and flowers blooming__and my heart will be carried to this beautiful place._ _Someday, in the clear blue sky,__everyone will be able fly freely as high as possible__Fly freely with flowers blooming in their hearts..."_

The last notes of the song flowed out beautifully as Eriol finished off the song. There was a brief tense moment of silence, making Tomoyo feel uneasy. But the feeling quickly vanished as soon as the entire audience stood to their feet clapping. Cheers erupted very quickly as well. Even the judges stood to their feet as they clapped. Needless to say, Tomoyo was going to the next round. OOOOO

As the contest moved on, the judges became more and more strict. Contestants that had easily made it into the quarter finals, the judges quickly ruled them out before they could even finish the song. Even Chikira had to actually sing rather than depend solely on her bust like she had been doing in previous rounds. Even then though, she had just barely made it to the semi-finals. By the time the moon rose into the sky, the contest was down to four contestants. Tomoyo, Chikira, Kana, and Yuka. With the finalist named, the announcer called for an intermission.

"I can't believe we made it to the finals," Tomoyo said with a sigh of relief as she drank the water Eriol handed her.

"You actually doubted yourself?" Eriol laughed.

"Yes for a moment," Tomoyo admitted.

"Why would you do something like that?" Kero asked from behind her. "You were awesome!"

"You really think so?"

"Of course we do Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed. "You guys will win for sure, I know it!"

"Yeah, and then we'll have money for food!" the yellow beast yelled.

"It's not like you have any real competition anyway," Meilin scoffed. "That Chikira bitch doesn't have the slightest chance against you. Now if I had entered..." Li quickly covered her mouth.

"Let's not go into that," he muttered to her.

"But still the others are quite talented though," Tomoyo said. "I can hear them practicing from here." To prove her point she urged the others to listen, and they were able to hear Kana work on her scales and range while a servant of hers played on the violin. When she reached one of the high notes, her voice suddenly stopped all together.

"Ms. Kana!" they heard from the other side. "Ms. Kana are you all right? What's wrong?"

"What's going on?" Meilin wondered as she tried to hear more. From the opposite end of the room, they were able to hear something similar had happened to Yuka.

"Yuka! Hey What's wrong! Hey!" Sakura was about to ask what was happening when she felt her stomach freeze. Her body became cold, and her breath felt like ice. The cold feeling ran down her spine, making her shiver. She had felt this feeling a couple of times before.

"A gh-gh-ghost?" she asked nervously.

"Not exactly, more like a spirit," Eriol answered. "Seems like the mischievous kind." At that moment, Chikira came into the room, her face devoid of any color.

"You have to help!" she exclaimed. "There's something after me!"

"And why should we help you?" Meilin asked bitterly.

"Please!! I'm begging you! There's something coming after me! It's already done something weird to my servants, and the others too!" Chikira pleaded. Eriol's eyes widened in interest.

"Oh really? What?" he asked.

"I don't know! One minute I'm talking to them, the next they can't talk at all! Like they suddenly lost their voices! It happened to the other two contestants as well!"

"Li, didn't we hear something about that in the audience?" Meilin asked.

"Yeah. Something about some ghost thing, that steals the voices of the contestants of this contest. Which is why a lot of untalented rich bitches have been winning. The spirit only takes the voices of people who sing beautifully," Li said, which made Chikira gasp in horror.

"Voices that sing beautifully?" she repeated. "Then...that means...It'll definitely come after me for sure!!!!!!!" The group looked at the girl as if she had just lost her mind.

"No seriously, I think you'll be okay," Meilin muttered.

"Anyway, moving on," Kero said. "If we don't stop this thing then Tomoyo will never win this contest! And we won't get our money for food!!!!"

"Do you feel it around here Eriol?" Li asked the doctor, who shook his head.

"It must be in hiding somewhere waiting for the right opportunity to take Tomoyo-chan's voice," Sakura figured.

"Looks like we'll have to draw it somehow," Eriol said. "But if we use Tomoyo-san, there is a large chance that we might not be able to react fast enough."

"Yeah, and then it'll go back in hiding again, and we may never find a good enough voice to draw it out again," Li added.

"So what do we do?" Sakura asked. "The finals start in a couple of minutes!"

"Shouldn't we just tell them what's going on?" Meilin figured.

"But I heard that if a contestant cannot preform for whatever reason it'll we written down as forfeit," Eriol said.

"Well that's even better! Tomoyo wins by default and we get our food!" Kero exclaimed. "It's prefect!"

"No," Tomoyo piped up. "I don't want to win like that. I want to truly test my talents against others who have made it this far. If I win by default, it says nothing about how good I am compared to others, or how much better I can become. And besides, it would be unfair to Ms. Kana and Ms. Yuka."

"So what do we do? We only have a couple of minutes!" Meilin stated.

"Don't worry I have an idea," Tomoyo declared. "And this plan relies solely on Ms. Chikira." At the sound of her name, Chikira looked at the group, and saw that Tomoyo had a mischievous glint her eyes, that Li thought could rival Eriol's. Which was not a good thing in his eyes.

OOOOO

"Explain to me what I'm doing again?!" Chikira hissed at Tomoyo. They were standing on stage, with the curtain about to be lifted for the finals. Li and the others were standing behind boxes back stage, with Tomoyo whispering instructions to the rich girl.

"It's simple. Just move your lips according to what you hear me sing," Tomoyo said.

"I see. You sing, and Ms. Chikira moves her lips like she's the one singing. And when the spirit comes out to steal her voice, that's when we attack. Quite the plan Tomoyo-san," Eriol praised. "But what happens if the spirit really does steal her voice?" Tomoyo shrugged with a smile on her face.

"Which is why I politely chose to leave that part out."

"Tomoyo-chan, that's mean!" Sakura scolded her friend, who jut gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan. I'm sure once we stop the spirit, all the voices it stole with return to their owners."

"We only have a few more minutes!" Kero announced. "Let's get this over with!"

"Right. Are you ready Ms. Chikira?" Tomoyo whispered.

"Of course I am! Although I don't see why you should be the one to sing! My voice is just as good as yours! Maybe even better! In fact I bet I can hypnotize the spirit into going away! With my voice..."

"Shut up!!!!" Meilin yelled, instantly quieting the girl. "Go Daidouji!" Tomoyo nodded, and took a deep breath.

"_When I am lonely, I seek warmth_

_I trace far into the distance my dear memories__Holding her beloved child in her arms,__a mother sings a lullaby under the sun.__On the cheek of an infant playing in the dreamland,__a fairy makes dimples of happiness._ _Even after being woken from a dream, a smile lingers__Such a seed of kindness remains in the heart." _

Chikira, as planned moved her mouth accordingly, and within moments, a pink light began to form above the rich girl. As Tomoyo continued with the song, the light began to swirl around as if preparing itself for the attack. At the moment the song ended, it shot down towards Chikira and consumed the rich girl. "Now!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Without second thought, Sakura reached into her pocket and pulled out Watery. "Watery! Attack!" she commanded. The spirit burst from the card and shot out towards the pink spirit, knocking it off of Chikira. The group watched as the blue of Watery and the pink of the rouge spirit spiraled around each other before crashing into the floor. When Watery withdrew itself back into the card, the true form of the spirit weakly floated out, and flew towards the celling. "Your not getting away!" Meilin shouted, as she launched a kick towards the spirit. The pink specter fearfully flew to the ground, forgetting that Meilin kicks would have no effect on it. Eriol, anticipating its moves appeared in front of it with a smile. "Sorry," he said, and with that he slammed his palm into the pink spirit, making it even weaker as it tried to fly away. "Please finish this quickly Li." "My pleasure. Element Lighting!" The lighting blast, though weaker than what Li usually shot was enough to completely disintegrate the spirit. The pink light that came from it came together in the form of a card and floated in front of Sakura. "The Voice," she read. Small balls of pink lights flew out of the card and went in separate directions. "Those must be the voices it stole." "Oh, Sakura-chan think you can do something for me?" Tomoyo asked. "What is it?" Tomoyo just smiled as she whispered her request in Sakura's ear. When Tomoyo finished, Sakura's eyed widened. "Tomoyo-chan that's mean!" she exclaimed, but despite her scolding tone, she was trying not to giggle. "I can't let someone like her get away with insulting you Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said with a smile. "Think of it as a way to test out the spirit's power." "Do it! Do it!" Meilin urged when she heard. Sakura sighed, and nodded. Li just shook his head at the scene. Either Tomoyo and Eriol were separated at birth, or they would be perfect soul mates.

OOOOO

The next day, the group walked out of town with 500 gold from Tomoyo's winnings. Kana and Yuka had decided to forfeit, they said it was as a thanks to Tomoyo and the others for getting their voices back. Tomoyo as the winner demand that the contest return to the way it was, and allowed everyone to be able to enter. As for Chikira... She ran all the way home croaking like a frog.

AN: Glad this chapter is over. It took me a while to get into the right mindset for it. I hope E&T fans aren't too disappointed. But if you've read this fic this far, you must know that romance is not the main focus point of the story. At first I wanted to hint at romance between them in this chapter, then I thought "this early, no way." Despite their similarities they are in many cases still perfect strangers. So I decided to settle on the two of them developing a friendship in this chapter. Will there be romance between the two of them? Maybe. It's the same with Sakura and Li, I really haven't decided on it yet. Anyway, remember last chapter where I laid out how long it would take until the story went back to the plot. I basically said 10 chapters right? Well you can forget that plan! I thought it over, and realized while typing this chapter, "I'm getting really bored with these filler chapters." And if the author is getting bored, god knows how you readers must be feeling. So I decided next chapter, while not a plot chapter, it will be a character development chapter. Not a filler, but not a plot chapter either. I'm doing this because there are so many things I've finalized about the plot, and want to get it down before I change my mind. Well enough of my ranting, here's the preview for the next chapter!

BTW: In case you didn't catch it, Tomoyo convinced Sakura to use the Voice card to change Chikira's voice into a frog's. And the song I made Tomoyo sing is called "Yasashisa no Tane" or "Seed of Kindness" in English. Had her sing the English translation, less trouble for me. But listen to it in Japanese. Junko Iwao (Tomoyo's VA) is an awesome singer!

_Tomoyo: Next time we meet a little girl who's living on her own in the forest_

_Kero: A small girl like that? What's she doing by herself? _

_Tomoyo: Apparently she has a sickness she says can't be cured, but legend says there is a flower on top of a mountain and someone gathers enough it can cure anything. _

_Kero: Sakura vows to get the flower, but when the girl's sickness takes a turn for the worst can Sakura save her before it's too late? _

_Tomoyo: Find out in "Sakura and the Moon Flowers" next Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya then! _


	58. Sakura and the Moon Flowers

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 58

Sakura let out a sigh as she heard the sounds of Li and Kero's bickering echoed through the forest. By now she had somehow gotten used to the sound, and long since given up trying to break them up. She had learned to tune them out by looking over their surroundings.

The forest was not nearly as dense as previous forests they had previously traveled through. The trees, were tall, but were loosely joined together, allowing for the sun to shine through brightly, giving short shadows to the arbor. It was a clear day with only a few thin clouds floating above, but a cold wind often sliced through the air, making Sakura shiver at times. She looked down at the dirt path before them and saw that hardly any flowers grew here. She saw that only a few blades of grass, and a sparse amount of weeds were able to grow on the flat surface.

She looked up to see a tall mountain in the distance towering over the trees. But before she could look at the mountain more, she saw movement in the bushes from the corner of her eye. She looked over to Li and the others and saw they saw it too.

"We got company," Li muttered as he reached for his sword. Meilin just smirked as she cracked her knuckles.

"Good, I was getting kind of bored! So what do you think it is, some sort of giant demon bear or something, cause I feel like something big right now!"

"You're so violent Meilin-chan," Eriol chuckled, which earned him a glare from her.

"I don't think it's anything like that," Li said as he scanned the bushes. "From its aura it's a small fry, but they are a lot of them."

"Who are you calling small fry!" a deep voice exclaimed. From the bushes fifty men jumped out armed with swords, knives and spears. They wore no shirts but had simple brown pants with belts to place their weapons. When the group saw their attackers, they instantly relaxed.

"Just a bunch of bandits," Li said as he sheathed his sword. Meilin groaned in disappointment,

"Damn it! I thought it would be something good!"

"Here's hoping they're leader isn't smooth talking, right Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo said to Sakura with sly smile on her face. Sakura instantly knew what Tomoyo was talking about.

"T-Tomoyo-chan..." she whined.

"Smooth talking bandit," Eriol said with interest. "Do tell Tomoyo-san!" As the group began to walk away as if nothing happened, the bandits looked at them shocked.

"H-H-Hey! Don't walk away from us!!!" one of them yelled.

"Your lives have been spared," Li said with a fierce glare that sent shivers down the bandits' spines. "Don't ruin it."

"Y-Y-Yes sir!" they said quickly.

"Leave now," Li ordered.

"Y-Y-Yes sir!" And with that the bandits scrambled off.

"Your eyes should be your weapon Li-kun!" Eriol chuckled.

"If that's the case, why aren't you dead?" The swordsman replied with a glare similar to what he gave the bandits. The doctor just shrugged.

"Damn, what a bunch of babies!" a fierce deep voice exclaimed from the bushes. From them a large man, the size of a stallion stepped in front of the group. He wore brown pants, and the pelt of a wolf over his shoulders. His large hands held tightly an ax that was about the same size as he was.

"The bandits' leader I presume," Eriol said.

"That's right. I sent those new guys hoping they would get the job done, but if you want something done right, do it yourself. The leader lifted his ax and pointed it at the group. "Now hand over all your money and the women, and I'll let you go."

"Unfortunately, we don't have that much money," Eriol replied. "And as for women, would you really like to spend a night with her?" The doctor pointed to Meilin, who just spat at the bandit's feet , who shivered.

"Your right, too spicy for my tastes. But what about those two," he pointed to Sakura and Tomoyo. "They're just the kind I like. Young and innocent!" With that the bandit lunged at them, but Sakura instantly blew him back with a blast of wind.

"Tomoyo-chan, stay behind me," Sakura instructed.

"So we do this the hard way! Fine by me!" The bandit chuckled and raised his mighty ax. With a loud yell he slammed it onto the ground, releasing a powerful blast of earth towards the girls. Sakura and Tomoyo jumped away in opposite directions. The bandit turned to Sakura first and lunged at her with his ax raised. He brought it down, only to be caught by Li's sword.

"Li, you didn't have to do that," Sakura said to him. "I could have fought him." Li just scoffed.

"Leave it to you of all people, don't make me laugh." Sakura looked down. Even after all this time, Li still didn't trust her with anything. Was she really that weak? She looked up just in time to see Eriol and Meilin stand in front of her and Tomoyo. Eriol looked down at her with a smile.

"Just leave him to us Sakura-san." Sakura sighed inwardly. Eriol too? Did everyone think she was too weak to handle a simple bandit? When a _clang _reached her ears, she looked up to see that the bandit had knocked away Li's sword, and went after Tomoyo. Meilin instantly attacked with a kick to his face, but with a simple swat from the large man, Meilin was knocked to the ground.

"I'll take you first little girl!" Tomoyo froze as she watched the bandit fire the same attack he had first came at them with. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the impact, but it never came.

"Tomoyo-chan!" She heard Sakura yell. The dark-haired girl opened her eyes to see Sakura jump in front of the blast of earth, and take it full force. The amber-haired girl flew back into Tomoyo, and they both rolled down the high hill below them. The world spun around Tomoyo as she tried her best to keep her grip on the now unconscious Sakura and avoid getting her head struck by the many rocks she saw between rolls. She failed at the latter when she felt her skull crack from under a rock. The last thing she saw before she was engulfed in darkness was a fast moving river.

OOOOO

Sakura awoke to severe pain. She weakly managed to open her eyes, but either because of the darkness of the room she was currently in, or her own drowsiness, she could not make out her surroundings. She tried to lift her head, but instantly regretted her decision when a ripple of pain flowed through her body. She managed to get her left arm moving without pain, and touched her forehead. Sakura, despite her drowsy and uncertain state, managed to make out the rough texture of a bandage. She felt her right arm, and found it was bound in a cast.

"Sakura-chan," someone said next to her.

"T-T-Tomoyo-chan," Sakura replied weakly, and looked to her side. She managed to make out the silhouette of her best friend next to her, and could tell that she was smiling at her.

"I'm so glad you're awake."

"W-W-Where are we?"

"I'm not sure. When I woke up, we were already here."

"W-Where are the others?"

"I don't know that either. Sorry." Despite her state, Sakura still was able to smile at her best friend.

"It's all right Tomoyo-chan. If you don't know, then you don't know. I'm not going to blame you or anything."

"Yes but knowing where we are would help us find the others."

"I think I can answer that," a small voice said. A blinding yellow light entered the room, instantly making the two girls squeeze their eyes shut. Sakura waited for the glare of the bright light to leave her eyes, before she thought about opening them.

"Sorry," the voice apologized. "I should have remembered that you guys would be sensitive to light." Sakura managed to get her drowsiness under control enough to be able to slowly make out who was talking in front of her.

She was a short little girl, mostly likely eight or nine years old at most. She wore a simple dark green kimono that was worn, torn, and smudged with dirt and grime. Her blond hair went down to her hips, and her green eyes looked at them with curiosity as her small hands struggled to keep all the herbs she had gathered together. But what was most eye-catching about the little girl, was her deathly pale skin that contrasted greatly with the dim darkness the small room they were in.

"Who are you?" Tomoyo asked. The girl smiled and bowed politely.

"My name is Kimiko. It's nice to meet you." Kimiko looked down and saw that most of the herbs had dropped from her hands. The little girl let out a small cry, fumbled to pick them up, earning her a giggle from Tomoyo.

"Cute." Kimiko blushed a little.

"So who are yo guys?"

"I'm Tomoyo Daidouji."

"And I'm Sakura Kinomoto."

"Nice to meet you," Kimiko said with another bow, making her herbs drop again. "No! Not again!" Tomoyo and Sakura got another giggle out of Kimiko's antics as she quickly gathered the plants again.

"So tell us Kimiko-chan, where are we?" Tomoyo asked.

"Your in my house," the little girl answered simply. "I found you guys floating in the river."

"Oh. Are your parents around. Perhaps they can help us get back to our friends."

"Actually," Kimiko started with a downcast in her eyes. "They died not too long ago."

"I'm so sorry," Tomoyo said, Sakura did the same. There was a moment of silence for a few minutes before Kimiko perked up again, and looked at them with a bright smile on her face.

"So you guys are traveling with your friends? Tell me, what are they like?" she asked with eager curiosity.

"Well..." Sakura started. "One of them has a face that's always in a scowl like this..." Sakura pushed her eyebrows together, and forced herself to frown in a comical impression of Li's constant scowl. Kimiko and Tomoyo both giggled.

"Really?" the little girl asked.

"Yep. And he always says, "you stupid girl,"" Sakura said in a deep voice, causing a round of laughter from her audience.

"Do Meilin Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo urged between her giggles.

"Another one has the same kind of face, but she's always saying "hey hands off he's my fiancé !!"" By now Tomoyo and Kimiko's giggles had turned into a full blown laughing fit.

"She sounds fun!" Kimiko giggled.

"She is once you get past her scary face!"

"Who should I do this time?" Sakura asked.

"Kero-chan!"

"Kero-chan?" Kimiko repeated.

"He's our self proclaimed guardian beast," Tomoyo explained.

"He's always yelling, "I'm hungry! Feed me!!!"" Sakura impersonated, yelling as loud as Kero did. By now it was a possibility that the entire section of the forest was able to hear the laughter of the three girls in the small hut in the clearing.

It was noon when the girls finally managed to calm down enough to talk normally. By now the wounds Tomoyo and Sakura had were all but forgotten to them as they talked the day away with Kimiko, who despite her circumstances was just as cheerful as Sakura. Kimiko told stories of her parents and their little misadventures in her old village. Such as an incident where her dad somehow wandered into the stables and got kicked by a horse. Or how her mother dropped all their clothes in the river by accident. A full laughing fit erupted between the girls again.

"You guys must be hungry. I'll go get some fruits!"

"Don't wander too far away," Tomoyo said jokingly.

"Yes mother," Kimiko replied, picking up on the joke. As Kimiko walked out, the sound of a light cough reached Tomoyo and Sakura's ears. They ignored it at first, thinking it was nothing serious, but with each passing second Kimiko's cough became worse and worse until it was deep and dry. Sakura and Tomoyo quickly rushed out of the hut, and saw the little girls on her knees gasping for air. Her little hands clenched the ground as pain ripped through her chest, and her heart pounded furiously against her ribs.

"Kimiko-chan! What's wrong!" Sakura asked frantically.

"Get her inside quickly!" Tomoyo instructed, but Kimiko placed her hand on theirs calming them with a smile.

"It's all right. It was just a little fit I tend to get all the time. I'm okay now." Sakura and Tomoyo looked at her with uncertainty.

"You were barely breathing five seconds ago," Tomoyo pointed out. "Perhaps you should go back inside and lie down, it would be best if you didn't push yourself."

"No really I'm fine. This happens to me all the time," Kimiko replied as she slowly got to her feet. "Now about that food."

"I'll get it Kimiko-chan. You need to rest," Sakura offered.

"No you're the guests, I couldn't ask you to do that. Don't worry, I'm okay now." The little girl flashed them a smile before running off into the bushes for food.

"Is she really okay?" Sakura asked her best friend.

"I don't think so, but what can we do?"

After an hour Kimiko returned with her arms full of fruit, herbs, and fish. Sakura and Tomoyo couldn't help but wonder how a little girl like her could so much food in only an hour.

"Now all we need is a fire. Oh yeah, before I forget," Kimiko reached into her kimono and pulled out two crowns made beautifully out of yellow flowers. The stems were woven together in a way that made the crown fit on Sakura and Tomoyo's head as if it were a glove.

"These are beautiful Kimiko-chan!" Sakura said in awe.

"You made these yourself?" Tomoyo asked.

"But of course. This has always been something I've been good at. I made them for my parents all the time."

"These flowers are so pretty," Sakura sighed. "Where did you get them?"

"There's a large field of them around the river. You can find all kinds of flowers around here if you look hard enough. But... there's one flower I've always wanted."

"What's that?" Tomoyo wondered. Kimiko looked over to the tall mountain that towered over the forest in the distance. Her eyes filled with a quiet determination, but held a deep seed of sadness and regret that Tomoyo picked up on.

"They're called the moon flowers. If you gather enough together they say, through the power of the moon, it can cure any disease. I've tried going up there, but it's just too high."

"Why would you want to go up there?" Sakura wondered. Kimiko suddenly shook her head as if snapping herself out of a trance. The little girl quickly looked over to them with a smile.

"Oh it's nothing," she said quickly, and went inside to make a fire for the fish. "I'll call you when it's ready!" Tomoyo followed Kimiko with her eyes, and picked up on the fatigue in her eyes just by running the short distance into the hut.

"What is it Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked. Tomoyo quickly shook her head.

"It's nothing. Let's just wait for Kimiko-chan shall we?"

"All right," Sakura agreed. "Do you think she's okay?"

"I'm sure she's fine Sakura-chan." At that moment they heard Kimiko cough even worse than before. The two girls rushed into the hut only to find Kimiko curled up on the ground trying desperately to breathe.

"Kimiko-chan! Kimiko-chan!" Sakura exclaimed as she saw the little girl's eyes close. "Kimiko-chan!" Tomoyo quickly placed her hand on her forehead.

"She's only unconscious. But she's burning up! I've never felt a fever this bad before!"

"We have to help her somehow! We need to find a doctor!" Sakura exclaimed as she sprinted towards the door.

"But Sakura-chan we're in the middle of the forest! Where are going to find one?" As Sakura reached the door, she slammed into something. She looked up and was met with a glare from the sun from a pair of glasses.

"Boo."

"Eriol-kun!" Sakura cried, and instantly dragged him by the wrist to the little girl. "You have to help Kimiko-chan! She's burning up! And she's barely breathing, and...!"

"Slow down Sakura-san. I'll what I can," Eriol reassured her with a smile as he knelled down towards the little girl. "First thing we need some cold water. Sakura-chan do you know a river near by?" Sakura nodded. "Good." With that Eriol clapped his hands together a formed a bucket. The doctor gave it to Sakura, who quickly ran out the door. She ran with such a speed that Li and Meilin, who were standing near by barely caught a glimpse of her.

"Fast..." Li muttered.

"Does she know she's moving that fast?" Meilin asked. Li just scoffed.

"Knowing her, no." Within a few moments Sakura returned with the bucket filled with the river water, once again blowing past Li and Meilin in the process.

"Here it is Eriol-kun!" she declared, barely out of breath. Eriol took the bucket, and took a cloth from his robes.

"Sakura-san please wait outside," he instructed her as he dipped the cloth in the water, and placed it on Kimiko's forehead.

"But...!"

"It's all right," he said with a smile. "Everything is covered for now. The rest is up to her. I'll call you when something happens." Sakura nodded and slowly walked outside.

"Why did you send her away?" Tomoyo asked the doctor. "She wants to be here more than anyone."

"She's trying to be calm, but I could sense her panic. She's in no position to be here in here state. Now let's see what this disease is like shall we?" Eriol placed his hand on Kimiko's forehead and closed his eyes to watch her story unfold.

Sakura sat against the hut, her hands gripping her head as if she was holding it together. She took a series of deep calming breaths, but nothing could cease the pounding of her heart. Her hands were shaking in fear and suspense as she waited for Eriol to walk out of the hut.

"Damn, I hate seeing her like this," Meilin muttered. "Even if her cheerful attitude does get on my nerves sometimes, it a hell of a lot better than this." Li just looked away, and jumped in a tree. Whatever her problem was, it didn't concern him. It wasn't his fault the stupid got too attached to some random kid she finds in the forest. At least that what he kept telling himself.

After thirty agonizing minutes, Eriol finally walked out of the hut. Sakura instantly jumped to her feet, and ran to meet the doctor.

"How is she?" she asked frantically. "When do you think she'll get well again?" Eriol sighed, how he hated this part of his chosen profession.

"I'm sorry Sakura-san. But Kimiko-chan's disease is much worse than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems she was infected with this deadly sickness when she was barely a month old. At that time, her village was attacked by bandits, who stayed there for a few years, many infected with this same disease. You can tell how easily she was able to contract this."

"Yes," Sakura replied.

"When the bandits left, many of the villagers died of this disease not soon after. It is a terrible sickness, that slowly and painfully breaks down the body until it reaches the heart. And unfortunately, Kimiko-chan is already at that stage. I cannot do any more for her besides delay the unavoidable. But even with that, she'll die in a few days. Two weeks at the latest. I'm truly sorry Sakura-san."

"No..." Sakura whispered in disbelief. "This isn't right! Kimiko-chan is just a child! She's...she's helpful, and fun, and...why does she have to die! There has to be something I can do!" The amber haired girl looked around as if something would suddenly give her an answer. And indeed she found one, when she laid eyes on the tall mountain towering over the forest.

"What is it?" Eriol asked as he followed her eyes.

"The moon flowers," Sakura whispered. "If I gather enough she can be cured. She said that the flowers could cure anything!"

"Even if that were true Sakura-san, you don't know how high that mountain is. And who knows what kind of dangers lie there," Eriol warned.

"I don't care. Kimiko-chan saved Tomoyo-chan, and me. This is the least I can do for her," Sakura replied, her mind already made up.

"You're planning on going alone? That's too dangerous," Eriol warned. "We should come with you."

"No!" Sakura exclaimed quickly. "I want to this myself."

"But..." Eriol started.

"Just let her go," Li said suddenly. "If it'll stop her whining, then let her go. It's obvious she's going to go no matter what you say Eriol." The doctor sighed, and nodded his head.

"Please come back quickly," he said with his normal smile. Sakura nodded.

"Sakura-chan, please wait," Tomoyo called as she went out to meet her. "Please allow me to come." Sakura nodded without hesitation.

"Kero-chan!" they both called. The beast flew out of Eriol pocket, his eyes half closed.

"What is it?" he asked lazily. "I was having such a good nap."

"We need you to transform," Sakura said simply.

"What for?"

"Please just do it," Tomoyo urged. They yellow beast just shrugged, and within seconds transformed, and allowed Sakura and Tomoyo to climb on.

"Hurry Kero-chan! We don't have much time!" Keroberos nodded, and took off in a flash.

"Do you think she can do it?" Eriol asked Li, who just scoffed and turned away.

OOOOO

It took the trio an hour to finally reach the mountain, and another hour of flying upwards the reach the top. The closer they came to the top, the harder Tomoyo found it to breathe. It was the thin air, she figured. But what had her confused was how unaffected Sakura seemed to be. Her best friend didn't even seem to notice the change in the air. But before she could wonder about the issue further, they reached the top of the mountain.

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero stared in awe at the vast field before them. The entire mountain top was covered with purple flowers that seemed to be thriving despite the thin air, and high altitude.

"This is plenty to save Kimiko-chan!" Sakura sighed with relief.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get them." Sakura nodded, and they went to gather some flowers when a series of loud laughs cut through the air. Within seconds the trio were surrounded by bandits.

"Well, well, well look who it is boss!" one exclaimed as he eyed Sakura and Tomoyo. Their large leader made his way through his minions, and smiled perversely at the two girls. He was the same bandit leader they had met earlier that day.

"Look who came crawling back to me boys! Looks like I'm having some fun tonight!" Sakura gritted her teeth as the bandits dirty laughter filled the air. The amber haired girl tried to reach for one of the flowers, only to have her hand slapped by one of the bandits.

"You ain't touching our property without paying a "fee."" One bandit chuckled.

"How about some skin!" shouted one. A loud roar of agreement echoed through the circle of bandits, making Sakura grind her teeth. She curled her fingers into a fist as she heard more of the bandit's disgusting laughter. She squeezed her eyes shut, and saw Kimiko struggle to survive. She saw the kind little girl she had met, taking labored breaths and clutching her chest, struggling to breathe. Sakura's nails dug into her skin, and snapped her eyes open.

"I need those flowers to save someone! Get out of my way!!!!!" With that Sakura shot out her palm, blowing away a large majority of the bandits in front of them.

"What the-!"

"Get her!!!!" As the bandits charged in, Sakura grabbed a stick, and formed her weapon. She swung it like a bat, blowing away more bandits.

"Tomoyo-chan! Kero-chan! Get the flowers quickly!" she instructed as she blew away more bandits.

"Right. Be careful Sakura-chan." Tomoyo hopped on Kero, and flew low enough for the dark haired girl to grab the flowers. Sakura blocked a overhead strike, and blew the attacking bandit into his advancing allies with her palm. But no matter how many she blew away, more kept coming. Five came in from behind her, and Sakura quickly swung her weapon behind her, blowing them away. But just as she turned around five more pinned her down with their spears. The amber haired girl struggled to get to her feet, but the more she struggled, the spears that pinned her down. Sakura looked up to see the bandit leader's large boulder like boots tower over her as he chuckled with a dark smile on his face.

"Keep her right here boys, and we might all get our share of fun." As the bandits laughed around her, Sakura managed to reach into her pocket, and pull out a card.

"Watery!" Despite the lack of water in the area, the spirit was still powerful enough to blast away Sakura's attackers. The amber haired girl quickly got to her feet, just in time to dodge the mighty ax from the bandit leader.

"Your mine little girl," he chuckled as he licked his lips. The large leader rushed forward and slammed his ax towards the young girl. Sakura quickly rolled through his legs, and swung her staff releasing a powerful, but it had no effect on him.

"What!"

"Don't expect to blow me away like you did my men! I'm way too big for your little wind! But you are small enough to be blown away by my attack!" the bandit slammed his ax on the ground, firing the same attack that knocked Sakura and Tomoyo off the cliff earlier. Sakura quickly jumped to the side, only to be rammed to the ground by the bandit's shoulder. As he stood over her, Sakura thrust out her palm, but just like before, her wind had no effect. The bandit grabbed her arm, and pulled her up to his eye level.

"You are pretty cute," he laughed darkly as he licked her cheek. "Oh yeah this will be fun. I want to see your cute little face as I slice your body into pieces!" Sakura's eyes widened like saucers as she stared helplessly at the mighty ax before her.

"No..." she whispered.

"Yes! That's the look!" the leader laughed. "Now I want to see more of it! And scream! Yes scream!!!!" The only thing Sakura was able to hear was the pounding of her heart against her chest, and the leader's laughter as he raised his weapon. Her breath was caught in her throat, her body was frozen and refused to move despite her cries for it to run as far away as possible. The leader let out a loud laugh as he brought down his ax, and Sakura let out an earth shaking scream for her life.

"Sakura-chan!" At that moment, Kero swooped down and slammed the leader to the ground with his hind legs. Tomoyo reached out to her petrified friend, but as she did, she was knocked off Kero by the leader's attack.

"Tomoyo-chan!!!!!" Sakura screamed. She looked up and saw the leader knock Kero away as if he were nothing. Sakura raised her weapon and attacked with wild out of control slashes that were no where close to hitting the leader. The bandit grabbed Sakura by the neck, and held her over the mountain's edge.

"Bye-bye little girl, it's been fun." And with that he let her drop.

Sakura felt the rush of air whistle against her ears, and her body fall like a rock. Her heart pounding louder than ever, and tears falling down her cheeks, that floated into the air as she fell. She saw the brown rocks of the mountain pass by her like a blur, and the green of the forest approaching her rapidly. She closed her eyes, and thought of Kimiko who was fighting to stay alive at this very moment.

'That's right,' she thought, feeling her fear slowly disappear. 'She's not giving up so, I can't give either!' She felt something awaken inside of her, and she welcomed it with open arms. The feeling over took her body. It was a warm gentle feeling that made Sakura's eye lids slowly drop until she was sure that she fell asleep.

The bandit leader smirked as he stood over the unconscious forms of Tomoyo and Kero. He was defiantly going to have fun. The vermin raised his ax ready to finish the job when a harsh wind blew past him. He turned around just in time to be blown half way across the field by a powerful wind.

"What the-!" he turned around and saw a much more womanly form of Sakura floating over the edge of the mountain. The bandit would have more time to be shocked if Sakura hadn't blown him clear across the sky with her wind, taking the entire band of vermin with him.

Tomoyo awoke to Sakura gathering up the flowers.

"Sakura-chan?"

"This has to be enough Tomoyo-chan."

OOOOO

By sundown, Sakura and Tomoyo returned. Sakura raced into the hut, her arms filled with the moon flowers with Tomoyo following close by, having an arm full moon flowers as well. The girls entered the hut to see Eriol standing over the still form of Kimiko with a somber expression on his face.

"Eriol-kun!" Sakura said excitedly. "We got them, now you can make them into something that can cure Kimiko-chan right?"

"Sakura-san," Eriol said softly, but Sakura didn't pick up on it.

"Tell her when she wakes up she doesn't have to live alone anymore. We can take her with us right? At least until we find a village than will take her."

"Sakura-san!" Eriol said slightly louder, but his voice was still barely over a whisper.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" Sakura looked over to Kimiko, and saw her figure completely still, and her skin even whiter than usual. Her heart started to pound when she realized that the little girl's chest wasn't rising or falling at all. "Wh-wh-why is Kimiko-chan so...still? Is it...some spell you put her on to make her better?"

"No Sakura-san. She's...gone." Sakura's eyes widened and felt the ground from under her collapse. "She died minutes before you got here. Forgive me. I did everything I could, but I couldn't stop it."

"But...but... the flowers..."

"The story about the Moon Flowers is really nothing but an old superstition from her village. Even if you had gotten here in time, it wouldn't have done anything. I'm sorry, I only found this out until just after you left."

"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo looked over to her best friend, saw her bangs covering her eyes, making her expression impossible to read. The amber haired girl dropped the flowers from her hands, and muttered without any feeling,

"I see." She turned around walked out of the hut without a sound.

It only took a few minutes with the help of Li, Kero, and Meilin for Eriol to dig a grave for the little girl. Tomoyo noticed a tear run down the doctor's cheek as he paid his last respects to a girl he never really knew. The dark haired girl then looked over her shoulder and saw Sakura staring out to the river, her expression still unreadable because of her bangs.

"Is she just going to sit there?" Meilin wondered. "Shouldn't we drag her over her to pray for the kid?"

"We have to do something, otherwise she'll just sit there," Tomoyo said worriedly. Li let out a annoyed growl and walked over to formerly cheerful girl.

"This could get ugly," Kero stated.

Li marched over to Sakura, annoyance clearly written on his face. He knew that the stupid girl would just sit there unless someone dragged her over, and forced her to her feet. And knowing the others they didn't have the heart, so that meant he had to do it. And the sooner he got her on her feet, the sooner they could leave. They had already spent half the morning looking for her and Tomoyo, and spent practically two and a half hours waiting for them to come back from their stupid impromptu mission. Li was not about waste anymore time waiting for the stupid girl to pull herself out of the dumb rut she had built for herself. It was her own fault for getting too close to the child, and now she was suffering for it. Li would lying if he said he felt sorry for her.

"Hey," he said coldly as he harshly shook her shoulder. "Pay your respects so we can go!" Either Sakura didn't hear him or he was ignoring him all together, neither which amused Li at all. "I said get up!" The swordsman forced her to turned around and look at him.

The emerald eyes that used to be so full of light and happiness, were now completely blank, as if Sakura were in a trance.

Li couldn't help but feel all his annoyance and anger fade away.

"I'm sorry..." she said softly. "I didn't hear you, what did you say?"

"Never mind," Li replied, the edge in his voice long gone.

"I see," Sakura whispered, and turned back to the river.

"I can't do anything...can I?" the girl whispered after a long silence.

"Huh?" Li grunted.

"I can't fight well, I can't control my magic, I can't fight a bandit..."

"What are you talking about?"

"And today," Sakura continued as if she was uninterrupted. "I realized that I...that I... couldn't even save a little girl." By now her voice was cracking, and her eyes were becoming glazed. "My dad told me once that I shouldn't grieve or be sad for the people who die. He said that those who die are able to escape to world of kindness and eternal happiness. They don't have to suffer anymore, and can still watch over the people they love. So...I guess I should be happy for Kimiko-chan right?" Sakura looked over to Li with a smile, that he couldn't help but weird about.

"Yeah... I guess..." he muttered.

"She was sick, and slowly dying everyday. She saw her parents, and her entire village die until she was all alone. I should be happy for her because she doesn't have to suffer anymore, and can see her family again."

"Yeah..."

"But...when I think about...not being able...to see Kimiko-chan ever again...I...can't help...but..." A small hiccup escaped Sakura's lips as her tears began to fall, but after a small wail reached Li's ears. The swordsman whipped his head around and saw Sakura silently crying.

Li wasn't sure why, but watching her like this, made his body ache. A part of him wanted to tell her to shut up, and suck it up, but as he looked into her eyes, he could not access that part of himself at all. He heard Sakura hiccup again as more tears began to fall, and her small quiet wails started to become sobs. Li gritted his teeth his frustration. He couldn't figure out what the hell was going on with him, but the more she cried, the worse he felt, that much he figured out. Anxious for the feeling to end, he stood over Sakura, who by now had calmed herself slightly.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered to him. "You must think I'm weak, crying over someone I barely know. I know I should be strong. I'm sorry just give me a minute and I'll..."

"It's all right," Li cut her off, as he offered her his hand to help her up. "You don't have to act tough for me right now." Sakura followed his offered hand upwards to him, and looked into eyes.

She saw a genuine kindness in them that didn't know could exist. His eyes were able to melt away whatever control Sakura had of her emotions, and made her heart explode with them. Acting purely on impulse, Sakura threw herself into his chest and covered his face in his robes.

"Thank you.." she whispered. Li's eyes widened at the initial contact, but before he knew what he was doing, his arms wrapped around her.

Sakura's tears were now flowing freely, and she let her wails escape her mouth. For a strange reason she felt safe here, and felt as if she could let go everything she was holding back before. It was a weird feeling she couldn't describe, and it was coming from the person she thought that she wouldn't be able to show any emotion in front of. It was indeed odd, yet right in a strange way.

Li couldn't help but think:

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME AM I DOING?!!!"

But the part of him who wanted to scream that to the heavens, and put an end to this immediately was silenced. He couldn't describe it, but he felt a warmth that he never thought was possible. His eyes softened even more as he heard her let out all of her cries into him. Once again his mouth acted faster than his mind wished.

"It'll be okay," was what he muttered to her, and felt like he should have clamped his hand over his mouth. But again that part of him was silenced. He let out inward sigh. Whatever this stupid feeling was, he figured he could tolerate it until he figured out what it was.

"Li, could you do me a favor..." Sakura said softly after a few minutes.

"What?" he asked just as softly, still unable to recover the normal edge or coldness in his voice.

"Make me stronger."

"What?" Sakura looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Please I want to get stronger! So that next time...next time... I can actually save the person I set out to save. Please!" Li just raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell do think I've been having you do all this time?" he asked, inwardly happy that the edge in his voice had returned.

"I want you to make it harder! So my powers can improve! Please! Train me like your master trained you! Maybe I'll learn more about my powers that way too! Please!" Li just rolled his eyes and sighed .

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." Sakura flashed him a smile that he quickly turned away from.

"Thank you."

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" an all too familiar voice said from behind them. Li instantly flushed in both anger and embarrassment when he saw them over Sakura's shoulder. He quickly removed his arms from Sakura.

"I'd say too lovebirds," another familiar voice to Sakura replied. The amber haired girl whirled around and saw Eriol, and Tomoyo with sly smiles on their faces. And in the background, Keroberos desperately trying to hold back Meilin.

"My, my, Li talk about a one eighty in a relationship."

"Yes, I had no idea you could be so affectionate," Tomoyo giggled.

"H-HOW LONG WERE YOU BASTARDS WATCHING!!!!!?!!"

"We saw the whole thing," they replied in unison, making Li and Sakura flush even more.

"Hoeeee...!" Sakura squeaked.

"EVER HEARD OF SOMETHING CALLED PRIVACY!!!?!?!"

"Well since you were only a few feet away, the thought never crossed our minds did Tomoyo-san?"

"No. Eriol-kun. It was perfectly fair." Li growled, and marched off in a huff, thinking of the best way to kill Eriol, only to nagged by Meilin about what happened as well.

"T-Tomoyo-chan, did you really see the entire thing?" Sakura asked, her face redder than a tomato.

"Of course Sakura-chan! Did you really think I would turn away from such a cute moment!"

"Hoeee...!" Sakura squealed as Tomoyo began debriefing her on what she dubbed "Sakura's cutest moment yet." The amber haired girl looked over to Li and saw that he was getting the same treatment from Eriol while Meilin was all but strangling him. She couldn't help but smile.

Maybe they were more similar than they thought.

AN: Glad this chapter is done. It took longer than I would have liked . But since it was such a turning point in Sakura's character, I wanted to make sure I got it right, and didn't rush. This chapter comes from my wanting to make Sakura more motivated to get stronger. She was fine before, but for later chapters, I needed her to get stronger. At first I thought of killing off Fujitaka and Touya. (Yes I'm evil like that.) But then I thought, "I want to motivate her, not traumatize her." After many wasted paper, I came up with this idea. The hardest thing about this chapter was the dialog. The fight I really didn't care about, which is why it isn't really all that great. I wanted to make Kimiko such a character that Sakura couldn't help but feel sorry for, and cry for when she realized that she couldn't save her. Plus I wanted to the dialog to be just right for that last scene between Li and Sakura. It took me a while, but I think I got it down right without it being too mushy. S&S fans, savor this moment because this will be the only blatant showing of S&S in this fic for a long while! (Insert Evil Laugh) Anyway, here's the preview for next chapter! See ya!

_Meilin: So Sakura want to get stronger. So she talks Li into training her like he got trained. _

_Kero: Is that dangerous? _

_Meilin: Are you kidding! Li nearly died on many occasions during his training! _

_Kero: Sakura what are you thinking!?! _

_Meilin: And Sakura isn't the only one who wants to get stronger, Tomoyo does to apparently. _

_Kero: What Tomoyo? What will she be able to do? _

_Meilin: I don't know you'll just have find out in "Renewed Wills" in the next Seven Deadly Jewels. Hey wait a minute why aren't I featured in this chapter! That's not fair!!!!!!_

_Kero: See ya next time! _


	59. Renewed Wills

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 59

"Are you sure about this?" Li asked deadly serious as he drew his sword from his cloak. Sakura, who standing a few yards away, swallowed the large lump forming in her throat and nodded bravely, despite her trembling knees. She felt her heart pound against her chest when she saw Li shift himself into a stance, with his sword ready to thrust.

"I'm positive," she said, but bit her lip lightly to stop it from shaking.

"Just to warn you, I'm not going easy on you at all," the swordsman said as he began to gather power in his legs.

"Right."

"Listen up!" he commanded, instantly getting Sakura's attention. "For the next three weeks if you aren't eating or sleeping, you'll be sparring with me got it!"

"Y-Yes!" Sakura replied, but frowned when she realized how long that would be.

"For the next three weeks I'll will be giving you three lessons that are more effectively taught in a practical training style. Are you ready?"

"O-Of course!" Sakura exclaimed, and quickly transformed a stick that was already in her hand, into her weapon. "Come at me any time your ready!"

That statement proved to be a mistake. As soon as Sakura blinked, Li was nose to nose with her with his sword at his side ready to strike.

"First lesson…" Li muttered as he swung his sword upward in a fast sliver blur. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, and held out her weapon in front of her. But a loud snapping sound reached her ears. She carefully opened her eyes only to see that her staff was no longer a staff, but a stick that was sliced in half. "Forming a competent weapon."

It was then Sakura realized that this was not going to be easy.

OOOOO

Eriol let out a sigh as he read a book on a rock by the river. Li had told him to stay away from the immediate area for the next couple of days as he trained Sakura. Meilin was out training by herself somewhere nearby with Kero, who surprisingly wanted to. Eriol sighed again. Without Li or Meilin to bother, the doctor was quite frankly, bored.

"Eriol-kun," he heard from behind him. Eriol looked over his shoulder and saw Tomoyo looking rather unsure of herself, which was a first in Eriol's eyes. "I have a favor to ask you, I hope you aren't too busy."

"For you Tomoyo-san, I'm never too busy," Eriol said with a smile. "What would you like me to do for you?"

"Eriol-kun please…..teach me to fight!" Eriol's glasses slipped down to the tip of his nose.

"Eh…? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you, what was that?" Eriol said as he pushed up his glasses.

"Please teach me to fight Eriol-kun!" Tomoyo repeated, more sure of herself this time.

"May I ask why you wish to learn all of a sudden?" Tomoyo just sighed as she sat next to the doctor.

"It is because of the sad face Sakura made when Kimiko-chan died."

"The sad face?"

"I made a promise to myself once that I wouldn't allow Sakura-chan to be sad. And when she is, I will always do my best to cheer her up. But when Kimiko-chan died….I felt completely helpless. I wasn't sure what to say or do, and seeing her so sad, tore me apart," Tomoyo explained.

"I see. But that does that have to do with learning to fight?"

"It's because as I am now, I am completely useless to Sakura-chan. I just get in the way, and she always has to protect me. And that makes her worried. I don't want her to worry about me, or have a sad look on her face ever again. I want to fight to be able to protect her, so please teach me." Eriol chuckled as he stood up and closed his book.

"I guess that's admirable enough. But why are you asking me? I'm sure Li or Meilin could teach you more practical things. I am a doctor first and foremost."

"I know. I thought about asking them first, but, swordsmanship and martial arts take a long time to master, and it would take me years to get just the basics. I want to help Sakura-chan as much as possible, so I was hoping that maybe you knew a way Eriol-kun."

Eriol walked around Tomoyo with his hand his chin, looking at her up and down. He analyzed her hands, the length of her arms, and the muscles in her legs as he passed. He asked the dark haired girl for her hand for a closer look at her fingers, and palm. After five minutes of inspection, Eriol snapped his fingers in realization, and smiled.

"I know the perfect weapon for you Tomoyo-san." Tomoyo's eyes brightened.

"Really? But….do you think that I'm strong enough to handle it?" she asked unsurely.

"Of course! I wouldn't be giving this weapon to you if I didn't think you couldn't handle it. Well actually it's weapons, but we'll get to that later." The doctor reached into his pocket, and pulled out the crystal ball that held his large house. "If you would just give me a few minutes." He did a quick spell and released his home from its crystal seal. The doctor quickly walked in, and began searching his drawers for the weapons he had in storage.

Tomoyo waited anxiously for Eriol to reappear. Her heart pounded against her chest in excitement. Finally, she would be able to help Sakura, and protect her. The dark haired girl began pacing as she thought of what kind of weapon Eriol was going to present her with. A bow and arrow first crossed her mind. She did have good aim, and a bow and arrow did not require that much time in training. Although, she had almost no experience with that weapon, and it would take a while for her to be able to shoot an arrow with speed and accuracy. She then thought of a Niginata. She had seen the halberd-like weapon used by women before, and unofficially it was the accepted weapon for a woman. But she then thought of the length, and weight of the weapon, and the required movement for effective use. The Niginata required concentration, skill and stamina, out of the three, Tomoyo only had the concentration portion. She highly doubted she was the right body type for the many graceful and circular motions of the Niginata. And she doubted she could even lift the weapon.

Before Tomoyo's mind could think of any other possibilities Eriol walked out of the house with a smile on his face and two items in his hands, that were closed to hide them.

"I found the perfect weapons for you Tomoyo-san," he said cheerfully. He then held up both his hands. "Pick a hand."

Tomoyo, not sure what Eriol's plan was, picked his right hand. The doctor opened up his palm to reveal a set of ten three inch kunai.

"Throwing knives?" she said when she saw them. Eriol nodded with a smile.

"Yes, they are the perfect weapon for you Tomoyo-san. But they won't be your only weapon." With that Eriol opened his other hand to reveal six small round metal bells with narrow slits in the center. Two were sliver and gold, one was red, another was green, the others, light blue, orange, and white. Tomoyo recognized the bells instantly.

"…..Cat bells…..Eriol-kun? My other weapon is cat bells?"

"They aren't just cat bells; they can also function as, earrings, hair ties, bracelets, even rings!" Despite his jolly tone, Tomoyo couldn't help but shoot him a disappointed look. She had told him exactly why she wanted to learn to fight, and yet he turned it into an excuse just to tease her. Tomoyo knew how much Eriol loved to joke around, but she had hoped that he would take at least her request seriously, but clearly she was wrong.

"Never mind Eriol-kun," she sighed as she turned around to walk away. "If you didn't want to help me, I would have preferred it if you had just told me from the start. I'll go see if Meilin-chan will teach me." Before she took a step, Eriol quickly grabbed her wrist.

"Hold on, I told you I would teach you, so that's what I'm going to do."

"If that's true, then I would appreciate it if you took my request more seriously," Tomoyo replied with an edge of annoyance in her voice.

"Eh? What do you mean? I am serious."

"Eriol-kun, please, I am in no mood for your antics. I merely want for you be serious for once is that too much of a request?" Eriol gave her a confused look. Tomoyo just sighed, and pointed to the cat bells. "Please explain how those bells can help me."

"Oh the cat bells, that's what was bothering you. Well, it's very simple Tomoyo-san. Looks can be deceiving," the doctor said, his voice becoming deeper.

"What do you mean?" Eriol picked up the golden bell, and held it between his index and middle finger while he placed the rest in his pocket.

"Take for example that tree over there," the doctor pointed to a tall tree that was about three yards away from where he was standing. The doctor whipped out the wrist that was holding the bell, and at first nothing happened. Tomoyo once again questioned the seriousness of her chosen trainer, but her doubts were silenced when several slashes suddenly cut into the bark of the tree. Tomoyo could tell that the tree was old, which meant the bark had to be thick, for it to have several deep gashes in it, meant whatever was in the cat bell was sharp.

"Are there small knives hidden inside?" Tomoyo asked out loud. Eriol chuckled as he shook his head.

"Nope. Not even I can make knives that small. Maybe this will give you a hint," With that Eriol made a quick, but strong tug on the bell, and within seconds, the old tree was reduced to nothing but splinters. Tomoyo's eyes widened at the feet.

"Some odd fighting technique?" she asked with her mouth still agape.

"Close, but still wrong. It's a material that you are very familiar with Tomoyo-san, which is why I wanted to give it to you," the doctor said as he placed the bell in her hands for a closer look. Tomoyo brought the bell inches away from her eyes, and examined it from every possible angle, but could not find anything remotely unusual about it.

"What is in this bell Eriol-kun?" The doctor let out a hearty laugh as he took the bell from her.

"You are going to kick yourself for not figuring it out when I tell you." Tomoyo inches closer in anticipation.

"What is it?"

"It's……"

"Yes….."

"Thread!" Tomoyo nearly fell over in shock.

"Eh??? Thread?!"

OOOOO

Sakura looked in horror at the shattered remains of her former weapon, which was now nothing but a broken stick. Her mind tried to comprehend what just happened. One second she had her weapon, and next, Li had cut through like it was still a stick.

"No zoning out!" Li snapped and suddenly attacked. Sakura snapped out of her self induced trance just in time to dodge an incoming thrust from her trainer. But just when she thought she was safe for a few seconds, Li quickly shifted his weight, and dashed at her with his sword ready to slice her in half. Sakura quickly jumped back, but Li kept coming with a series of strikes that Sakura could barely keep up with.

"Li wait!" she exclaimed frantically, but Li kept slashing.

"Do you expect you enemy to wait!" he exclaimed as he attacked with a fast thrust. Sakura rolled to the side and ran to get some distance between them.

"I just don't understand! What happened to my staff!" she yelled from over her shoulder as she kept running. When she hit something hard, she looked up to see Li's intense amber eyes looking down at her.

"Empty power," he explained simply, and thrust his sword through her shoulder. Sakura's eyes widened before she cried out in pain, and clutched her shoulder. At that moment, something harder than a rock collided with her stomach, causing pain to explode throughout her body before she was knocked backwards five feet. She looked up and saw Li standing with his foot out stretched, his eyes, cold and unfeeling.

"Li…." She whispered softly as she struggled to get up. "I don't understand….what…do you mean by empty power."

"If you have to time to talk, you have time to fight!" With that Li dashed towards her, and attacked with a strong downward slash. Sakura rolled away from the sword, but just as she got to her feet, Li attack with another strong slash. The amber haired girl quickly jumped back, and tried once again to run. When she looked over her shoulder, her eyes widened when she saw Li only inches away from her. The young girl ducked her head just as she saw Li swing, only to trip on a large tree root. Li skidded to a stop, and stood over her. Sakura's heart beat pounded against her ribs when she saw Li point his sword inches away from her forehead.

"W-Wait," she squeaked.

"I'm going to be honest with you," Li said coldly. "If you are unable to form your staff without the use of a stick by the end of this week, I will kill you."

At that moment, Sakura felt blood freeze.

OOOOO

Tomoyo looked at Eriol, her mouth still agape, and her mind still trying to comprehend what just happened seconds before. The doctor had just somehow turned a full grown tree into nothing but splinters by using what he claimed to be thread. Tomoyo had much experience in thread, she had made most of Sakura's clothes back home, and sometimes her own, but never in her life had she seen thread destroy a tree.

"E-Eriol-kun, please stop joking."

"It's no joke Tomoyo-san. I destroyed the tree using just thread," Eriol replied, his voice dead serious.

"B-But how is that possible! There is no way you would be able to do that with thread alone! Thread cannot even scratch tree bark!" Tomoyo exclaimed still in denial. Eriol let out a chuckle.

"Thread can be useful for other things too you know," he said as he pulled out a string from the bell. "Besides, this isn't your everyday sewing thread."

Tomoyo strained her eyes to see the string of thread that Eriol had pulled out. The dark haired girl had to make it so that her eyes were inches away from the material just to know that it was there. It was indeed unlike any thread she had seen before. It was extremely thin for one thing. Tomoyo somehow knew that this particular thread was thin enough to fit through just about anything. Its sliver white color in combination with its thinness made it close to impossible to see from long distances. But the most unusual aspect of the thread was it's texture. Tomoyo ran her finger against it, only to quickly pull it back when she felt it being cut. Unlike normal thread, which was soft, and furry like hair, this thread was smooth, and sharp, like it was covered with countless blades.

"What kind of thread is this Eriol-kun?"

"A special kind. It's made of countless blades that have been melted, shrunken, joined together and….well I won't bore you with the process, but bottom line is, this thread is just as sharp as any bladed weapon you'll come across maybe even sharper!"

"But who would make such a thing?" Eriol chuckled.

"My sister.…. Anyway, let's get started shall we?"

"Yes of course," Tomoyo replied. As she followed Eriol, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of person his sister was. She must have really meant so much to Eriol if he had so many mementos of her. When the two reached a clearing in the forest, Eriol sat down a few feet away from Tomoyo, his forehead scrunched together as he thought about how to do this.

"I suppose the first thing to teach you is how to release the thread," he said unsurely. He then nodded to himself. "Yes that's how I'll do it."

"You aren't sure how to teach me this thread technique?" Tomoyo asked, not believing that Eriol would give her something that he had no idea how to teach.

"Well I know you handle it, I'm just not sure how to teach it to someone," the doctor chuckled nervously. "Anyway, first thing is to teach you how to release the thread."

"Is it magic?" Tomoyo asked as she once again examined the cat bells.

"No nothing of the sort. Well, the thread is sealed in the bell with magic, but magic is not the key to release the thread."

"What is then?"

"Ki."

"What's Ki?"

OOOOO

Sakura let out a scream as Li slashed across her stomach, leaving a shallow, but bloody wound. As the young girl stumbled to keep her balance, Li came in with a jab to her stomach, making the girl cough a small amount of blood. Sakura clutched her stomach as she tried remaining standing, but the next thing she knew, she was on the ground staring up at the sky, with her chin aching.

"Pathetic," Li spat as he lowered his fist from its uppercut position. "At this rate, even with a thousand lifetimes, you won't get any stronger." Sakura slowly got to her feet, heavy pants escaping her lips from all the running she had been doing. As soon as she was steady, Li dashed towards her, and attacked with a fast thrust. Sakura quickly sidestepped it, and easily dodged Li follow up sidekick. When she was behind the swordsman, Sakura thrust out both of her hands, firing a powerful blast of wind. But Li quickly jumped into a tree to avoid it. When the swordsman caught sight of his target, he saw her running towards a more wooded area.

'How am I supposed to form my staff without a stick?' Sakura thought as she ran as fast as she could. 'And how did he destroy the first one?' Sakura's internal wondering was cut off when she saw Li jump out from the trees with his sword over his head. Sakura back flipped away, and grabbed a stick as she passed over the ground. When Li charged in, she quickly formed her staff.

"This again!" he exclaimed.

'This is the best I can do for now,' she thought as she went to block Li's incoming attack. Just as the staff was inches away from the sword, Li suddenly pulled back and sliced upwards, cutting the staff in half again.

"As I established when this lesson first started, that stupid parlor trick is not going to help you with me." Sakura dove to the side to avoid Li's thrust, and somersaulted herself into a fast sprint as she saw Li continue pursuit. The young girl's legs grew heavy from the running, and it become harder to maintain her speed as her heart pounded hard against her chest. Feeling her limit approaching her quickly, Sakura whirled around, and blew sand in Li's eyes, successfully blinding him for a few spare seconds. When Li managed to rub the dirt out of his eyes, he saw that Sakura seemed to all but vanish.

Sakura clamped her hand over her mouth to mute the sounds of her heavy panting as she hid behind a thick tree. She gingerly looked past the bark, and saw Li about five yards away standing still. She figured that he was trying to sense where she was, which did not give her much time to figure this lesson out.

'I can't keep running for an entire week, but what else can I do?' she thought as she unconsciously prayed to the heavens for Li to take as much time as possible to find her. 'How do I form my staff without a stick?' Sakura held out her palm, squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to envision the weapon in her hands. At that moment, she could feel something inside of her churning, as if two ingredients were mixing together to make something new. The girl felt warmth form around her hand, and she could feel her power slip down from her chest, through her arm, and into her palm, but it was a very small amount. Sakura inwardly yelled for more, and felt a gentle stream of power flow through. The more Sakura concentrated, the more clearer her mental image of her staff became. It became so clear that Sakura felt that she could reach out and touch it. At that moment she felt something behind her. The young girl turned her head, and saw Li's sword stab through the bark of the tree, and slice downwards towards her head. Sakura instinctively jumped forward.

"Catch your breath yet?" Li asked coldly as he sliced through the remaining portions of the old tree. Sakura felt her heartbeat speed up when she saw the swordsman take a small step forward. She silently gulped, and called for her powers, thinking she was getting closer to forming the staff. But she found that she could not gain accesses to them as easily as before, it was as if a dam was blocking the pink stream of her powers. The block only became worse as Li dashed forward with his sword ready to slice.

Sakura quickly leaned back to dodge his first swing, and ducked to avoid his follow up kick. Thinking quickly, Sakura whirled her lower body into a tripping move towards the swordsman's supporting leg. Seeing this coming, Li pushed off the ground with his supporting leg, and slammed it against her chin, sending her flying back. Sakura slowly got to her feet, just in time to see another thrust come her way. The young girl sidestepped the incoming attack, but merely stepped right into a left hook across her cheek from Li. As she stumbled back the swordsman ran knee, and delivered a swift knee to her stomach, and another uppercut to her chin. Sakura pushed herself to her feet again, calling once more for her powers, but the mental dam still block its path.

"What's wrong?" she asked out loud.

"Zoning out again I see!" Li exclaimed. "Element Lighting!" Sakura's heart raced when she realized she going to be on the receiving end on one of Li's favorite attacks. She tried calling her powers but the dam seemed even stronger than before. When she snapped back to reality, she saw the sliver blur of Li's sword heading towards the direction of her neck. Sakura quickly jumped back, but regretted her decision when she felt no ground beneath her. The amber haired girl let out a loud cry as she fell down the cliff. Li looked over the cliff's ledge and saw Sakura struggling to hold onto one of the rocks a few feet down. The swordsman scoffed as he sheathed his sword.

"That enough for today I guess." He turned and began to walk away, when Sakura's voice cut through the air.

"No!!" she exclaimed as she slowly climbed up the cliff. "Lets…..keep……going…..I…..I can……handle it!" Li raised an eyebrow at this recent development, and just shrugged as he drew his sword once more.

"Fine, but you asked for it," he replied when Sakura was fully back on the cliff. With that Li charged in again, and the training continued.

AN: This chapter signifies the start of a three-chapter training arc concerning Sakura and Tomoyo. Originally, this chapter was supposed to focus mainly on Tomoyo as she begins to learn about fighting, and it was only supposed to be a chapter long. Then I thought "There is no way Tomoyo could master both kunai, and the thread technique in one chapter!" So I decided to stretch it out more to make it more reasonable. Well anyway, here's the preview for the next chapter!

_Kero: As Sakura struggles to gain control of her powers, Tomoyo struggles to understand the concept of ki, which is key in learning to use the thread technique. . _

_Meilin: Can Sakura and Tomoyo overcome these new trials before them? _

_Kero: You'll just have to find out in "Lesson 1: The Rough Basics!" _

_Meilin: Damn it! I'm not featured in this chapter either! _

_Kero: See you soon! _


	60. Lesson 1: The Rough Basics

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 60

"That enough for today I guess." He turned and began to walk away, when Sakura's voice cut through the air.

"No!!" she exclaimed as she slowly climbed up the cliff. "Lets…keep…going…I…I can…handle it!" Li raised an eyebrow at this recent development, and just shrugged as he drew his sword once more.

"Fine, but you asked for it," he replied when Sakura was fully back on the cliff. With that Li charged in again, and the training continued.

Sakura quickly sidestepped Li's first thrust, and ducked under his follow up left hook. The young girl thrust out her hand, which pushed Li back, but the swordsman dug his foot into the ground to stop himself from going too far. Once the wind had passed, the swordsman pushed himself forward and sliced at Sakura's neck. The girl jumped back, but Li rotated on his foot, and slammed a kick in her stomach, making the girl fly back.

Sakura slammed her hands into the ground to slow herself down, and quickly got to her feet to run. As she ran she tried to call on her powers again, but the mental dam inside her still blocked her flow of power. She heard Li's swift footsteps catching up to her. The young girl whirled around and shot two wind blasts at him, but Li quickly leapt into the air, and held up his index, middle, and thumb.

"Lighting!" A powerful bolt of lighting struck the ground, but Sakura quickly rolled forward, and fired a blast of wind to knock Li out of the sky. The swordsman growled and covered himself with his arms as the wind collided with him. But he underestimated the power behind it, and was blown away a few yards back.

Sakura quickly hid behind a tree as she tried to call on her powers once again. She held out her hand and took a series of deep breaths before trying to feel the river of power within herself. She felt gentle warmth from the center of her stomach flow up her chest, into her shoulder, down her arm and, into her palm. She felt the warmth reach her palm, but disappear after a few seconds. She tried again, mentally calling out louder, and as a result felt a greater warmth reach her palm, but it still disappeared after a few sparse seconds.

"It's no use," she sighed. "It keeps disappearing." She took a deep breath, and squeezed her eyes shut, calling louder. She felt her river of power flow down to her palm, heating it again. Sakura pushed harder, feeling the heat rise to a point where she thought her hand was on fire. She quickly dropped her mental hold on her powers, and examined her hand for burns. She was about to try again when a cold metal rested against her cheek, which sent shivers down her spine.

"Having trouble?" Li whispered as he sliced down the tree. Sakura rolled to the side as the tree fell, just barely escaping being crushed. As soon as she got to her feet, she saw a sliver blur shoot straight towards her face. Sakura, on pure instinct, grabbed Li's hand, and pulled him into her free palm. Li gritted his teeth together as he felt the powerful gust of wind blow through his body. He dug his foot into the earth when he felt like he was going to be hurled one hundred feet away. In one motion, he grabbed Sakura's palm with his free hand, and threw her over his shoulder.

Sakura let out a dry cough when her back collided with the hard surface of the ground. She rolled away when she saw Li thrust downwards. Sakura rolled on her shoulder to get herself to her feet, and started running like she had been doing practically all day. As she heard Li's rapid steps, she frantically tried to call on her powers, but the mental dam she had encountered before, halted the flow.

"This again," she muttered, and wanted to push harder, but completely forgot about it when she saw Li swing towards her neck. Sakura thrust both her hands towards the earth, releasing two blasts that sent her flying into the air. With a series of uncontrollable flips, the young girl managed to grab hold of a tree branch. Hoping the distance would delay Li for a few seconds, she tried once again to call her powers.

"Useless," Li muttered. "Element Lighting!" The blast struck the branch, inches away from Sakura's fingers, making her scared, and causing her to let go. As she plummeted, Li jumped towards her, and brought down his sword with a yell. Sakura let out a scream as she covered herself with her arms. Li whirled around, and made the young girl crash to the ground again with a fierce kick. Sakura tumbled backwards on her shoulders six times before finally collapsing on her stomach.

Sakura felt her entire body ache. Every time she attempted to breathe she felt an agonizing pain run through her sides. Blood was running from her wrists, and a long vertical cut on her stomach, where Li slashed her a few seconds earlier. She felt as if getting to her feet would be a big mistake. She called on her powers, but was once again blocked by the mental dam. Li just scoffed as he watched her from a branch.

"Is this it? I told you I wasn't going easy on you," Li jumped to the ground and approached Sakura with scorn in his eyes. "I also told you, if you can't form your staff by the end of this week, I'll kill you."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat at the cold reminder. Her hands began to shake, and her heart pounded against her chest so hard she thought it would burst from her ribcage. As she heard Li approach her, she tried again to call her powers, but the dam was even stronger than before. This time the young girl couldn't even get even get her power to move let alone flow.

"Do you want me to end it right now? At least then you'll be with that Kimiko kid." At the mention of the little girl, Sakura's eyes snapped open. She remembered the girl's cute smile, and her gentle kindness. She remembered her cough, and seeing her struggle to breathe. She remembered how she couldn't save her….

Sakura gripped the ground as she curled her hands into a fist. That was the reason why she couldn't give up. She wanted to get stronger, to save people, to be able to save the people she cared about. She wasn't strong enough to save Kimiko, what if she wasn't strong enough to save Tomoyo, or Kero, or worse, her father and Touya. The thought of seeing them completely still in front of her like Kimiko was too unbearable.

With that thought in mind, the pain she was feeling before seemed to disappear. She suddenly had more than enough strength to stand. She couldn't explain why, but when she closed her eyes to call for her powers, the mental river inside of her was even stronger than before. She felt the power completely shatter the dam, and flow through her. She felt her hand burn, but the feeling did not bother her at all, in fact she pushed for more power to her hand. When she felt that she had enough, she snapped her eyes open, ready for anything Li was going to throw at her.

When Li mentioned Kimiko, he saw the young girl physically twitch. He didn't think much of it at first, and walked closer to her ready for another attack. But when he felt Sakura's fear disappear, and her power rising to levels closer to his, he held back on his attack. He saw the girl slowly get to her feet, her power still rising, and her aura being pushed towards her hand. He even thought he saw her hand glow pink for a few seconds. The girl's eyes snapped open, and locked with his. For a brief moment Li thought he felt the wind become colder. Li wasn't sure what to make of Sakura now, but he figured he wouldn't find out by just standing.

Li took one careful step forward before breaking into a full charge. He saw Sakura twitch slightly, but she made no motion to run. The young man attacked with a fast thrust towards her forehead. Sakura's eyes widened as she dodged to the side, and jumped back. Li quickly followed after her, and attacked with a series of fast slashes. To his surprise, Sakura actually managed to keep up with his slashes. Sakura moved away from a slash that would have given her neck a deep slash, when her heel hit against a tree branch, causing her to fall. Without second thought Li attacked with a downward slash as Sakura was flailing her arms about trying to keep her balance.

The young girl shot her hands up, as if she was going to attempt to catch the blade. The sword was inches away from slicing the girl's hand when she squeezed her eyes shut, and shouted out a singe word,

"Release!"

At that moment, Li felt a large, and sudden release of power shoot out from Sakura's hand. A loud CLANG reached his ears, and when he looked down he saw Sakura holding something.

It was a pink staff like wand.

When he saw the staff he slowly eased up, and sheathed his sword. Sakura carefully opened her eyes when she heard this. Her eyes fell on the staff in her hand, and her eyes widened in awe.

"Congratulations," he said dryly. "You've cleared lesson one."

OOOOO

"Eriol-kun, what's ki?" Tomoyo asked the doctor for the second time that day. Eriol had led Tomoyo to a wide field close to the forest, and had the river at their backs. Tomoyo sat across of the doctor who was sitting cross-legged, as he tried to think of the answer to her question.

"Let's see…. what's the best way to put it…" After a few moments of silence on Eriol's part, the doctor finally snapped his fingers in realization.

"Ki is energy. And not just any energy, energy inside of you."

"Energy inside of me?" Tomoyo repeated. Eriol nodded.

"You see in this world there is all kinds of energy. Elemental energy, celestial energy, and spiritual energy just to name a few…"

"Is magic a variety of energy as well?" Tomoyo asked. Eriol thought for a moment.

"Yes, of course. Energy is a powerful thing, but no one can use every kind of energy there is in this world."

"Why not?" Eriol chuckled.

"They'd blow up." Tomoyo giggled at the thought. "But there is one type of energy there is that is universal."

"Ki?" Tomoyo guessed.

"Exactly. Ki is internal energy. It is like a gateway to use the other types of energies I mentioned earlier."

"So ki would allow someone to use an elemental energy like water, as an attack?" Tomoyo figured. Eriol nodded with a smile.

"Right again Tomoyo-san. Ki is formless, so as a result you can use it with almost anything and everything. For example, how do you think Meilin-chan can kick so strongly?"

"I thought that was because she trained very hard."

"Well there's that, but she also uses her ki to amplify the power of her kicks. With ki you can use it to strengthen attacks that would normally be weak without it."

Tomoyo was silent as she absorbed all the information. To think that all this time, she had a power within her that would enable her to fight. She stared at her hand with the thought of using ki to punch through an entire mountain. She smiled at the thought. With that kind of power, she would be able to help Sakura for sure.

"Of course the flow of ki depends on the person, and their body type," Eriol interrupted.

"What do those factors have to do with ki flow?"

"Everything!" Eriol said sharply, which made Tomoyo jump. Eriol quickly apologized. "The flow of Ki is critical in its usage."

"Really?" Eriol nodded.

"The flow of the ki determines how fast and effective it will be, and that all depends on the person. Intense emotions, like fury, jealousy, nervousness, and fear slow down the flow of ki. Other emotions such as sadness, grief, worry, and other emotions similar to those, halt the flow of ki almost instantly, making it close to impossible to use. Ki flows best when the user is calm, relaxed, and focused. Those emotions cause the ki to flow faster, and increase the chance of success." Eriol looked at Tomoyo and saw that her eyes were trying to make sense of the new information.

"Let say for example, a river. A river's flow generally is swift, yet it has the power to sweep a human down to the ocean. But when something falls into the river, such as moss, or another kind of muck, the flow doesn't stop, but it becomes slower in that particular area. In a large sense that doesn't matter, since rivers can be rather large. But when the river is met with constant interference by the muck, the flow of the entire river becomes slower, and the power fades away. The same can be said of ki. Do you understand?"

"So ki flows like a river inside of the body, correct?" Eriol nodded. "So when I feel anger, or sadness, it is like muck in the river, it slows the ki down." Another nod. "And when I feel enough anger, it will stop the flow of Ki completely?"

"Yes, you got it Tomoyo-san," Eriol praised.

"So how can Ki help me wield the string?"

"I'm glad you asked. Now I can get to the main point of this lesson." Eriol held up the six bells as he began the explanation. "As I said before, ki flow depends on the person and their body type. So, referring back to the emotions portion of the lesson, a person who has a short temper, or who is often sad, their ki flow will be significantly weaker than someone who is calm."

"Yes, and the body type part?"

"Now here comes the main point. Body type plays a large role in flow, just as much as emotions do. The type of body the user has will effect how the ki will flow within them."

"How it will flow?"

"For example, if the user is very muscular, his ki will flow in a very bulk like manner. He will be able to produce a large amount at once." Tomoyo nodded.

"So does my ki have to flow a certain in order to use the thread technique?"

"Exactly. These threads are not ordinary threads as you've already realized. They are more like whips, so as a result in order to wield them, your ki flow must be swift, precise, and sharp. In many ways like a whip."

"I must say that sounds rather difficult," Tomoyo admitted. In all that he had heard from Eriol so far, just getting your ki to flow correctly sounded hard, but getting it to flow a certain way sounded close to impossible. How could she, who has had no martial art or fighting experience, be able to learn such a difficult technique?

"It's not as hard as you might think. To be honest, for you it might be easy!" Tomoyo looked up sharply at Eriol's comment.

"Really? But how?" Eriol chuckled.

"You underestimate yourself Tomoyo-san. Among all of us, your ki is the only one that is adaptable. That's because you have had no predetermined training or conditioning. Li, Meilin, and myself have all have had some sort of ki training since we were born. Even Sakura-san was born with her ki flow already predetermined. However, your ki is different. For some reason you were given the gift of adaptable ki, a very rare thing in this world. You can teach your ki to flow in so many different ways, you'll be able to learn hundreds, possibly thousands techniques Tomoyo-san!"

Tomoyo looked at her hands in shock. All this time she had an ability that very few people had. She found it hard to believe that with just a little training she would be able to do things that Sakura and the others couldn't. If she could master the thread technique, what else could she do? A smile crossed her lips as she curled her hands into fists.

"Eriol-kun, can we please start? I think I understand what ki is now."

"Very well then. Prepare yourself Tomoyo-san. The training begins now!"

OOOOO

Meilin looked at the guardian beast as she shifted into a stance. She wasn't sure how she got stuck with training the stuffed animal. But since Li was busy training Sakura and Eriol was training Tomoyo, she didn't have much else to do. Her mind flashed back to how this came to pass as Keroberos launched himself at her.

_Flashback_

_She was doing a set of handstand push-ups when the guardian beast came up to her, with a pensive look on his face. _

"_Hey brat," he said softly. _

"_What do you want bath sponge?" she asked with annoyance at being interrupted. _

"_Do you think I'm...weak?" Meilin scoffed. _

"_Of course I do. You're about as strong as a grain of rice, and that's when you're in your beast form." Kero looked down, with shame in his eyes. _

"_I see..." he muttered. _

"_Just stating facts," Meilin replied as she began a new set. _

"_Train me then!" Kero exclaimed. _

"_Eh?" _

"_Train me brat! You heard me! I'm supposed to be a Guardian Beast! But I haven't been able to do anything for Sakura! When I first got my beast transformation, I thought that I would be able to do anything then. But then we were attacked by these three sisters, and I...couldn't do anything against one of them. I didn't even get a scratch on her. _

"_Then when Sakura went of the Moon Flowers, Tomoyo and I saw her surrounded. I went to save her, but that bandit leader just knocked away like I was nothing! I really hate to admit it brat, but you are right. I am about as strong as a grain of rice. But I know you can make me stronger! So train me! I'll do anything you tell me to do!" _

_Meilin let out an annoyed scoff as she flipped back to her feet. _

"_Jeez you don't have to get so dramatic bath sponge," the girl cracked her knuckles and started to stretch. "I'll train you. I need a sparing partner anyway. Or should I say punching bag?"_

"_Eh?" _

_Flashback End _

Meilin cart wheeled to the side of Keroberos' fangs, and spun on her hands to slam her foot into his cheek, sending him sliding across the ground. The beast got to his feet with a growl and charged again. Meilin smirked as she dashed towards him as well. Just when Kero opened his mouth to attack, Meilin delivered a powerful front kick to his chin, snapping his mouth shut. The ruby-eyed girl spun on her supporting leg, and slammed her kicking leg into Kero's stomach knocking him back twenty feet.

Meilin couldn't help but chuckle, it had been like this for a while. Kero's attacks were just too straightforward and telegraphed. Although she had this problem once before, she managed to learn how to conceal her attacks with acrobatics. Kero on the other hand didn't seem to be learning anything at all. He just kept charging. Meilin just scoffed. This little training session did give her a good excuse to pound the annoying beast into oblivion.

Meilin wasn't much a teacher, even she knew that. She figured the best way to teach someone something was through example, and lots of practical application. She wasn't sure if fighting Kero like this was a good example of practical application, but sometimes you learn the best under pressure.

Keroberos got up with a groan. He couldn't help but be angry with himself. It was almost dusk, and he hadn't gotten anywhere. He wasn't even close to scratching the brat. They had agreed that the beast would pass if he could pin Meilin down for ten-seconds. He had agreed thinking that his weight would be his advantage, but now he thought of it as his weakness. No matter how heavy or strong he was, he just could not match Meilin's speed. He would blink for half a second, and the next thing he knew, Meilin would slam another kick in his face.

Keroberos charged towards Meilin, who just rolled her eyes at the tactic that became all too familiar within the last couple of hours. She rushed towards the beast, expecting another bite attack, but the ruby eyed-girl was caught by surprise when she saw a blast of fire shoot her way. Meilin leapt into the air, avoiding the fire. She quickly repositioned her body into a diving kick heading straight for Keroberos' head. Meilin raised her eyebrow when she saw the beast smirk, but she realized his plan when she saw him jump back, and allow her kick to slam into the ground. At that moment, Kero charged, and rammed his shoulder into her stomach. Meilin let out a dry cough as she lost balance and fell flat on her back.

"HA! How do you like that now brat!" Meilin growled as she felt the great weight of the beast's paws on her shoulders. It felt like having five boulders on her. With a loud groan she raised her legs, kick out Kero's back legs from under him. As Kero started to drop, Meilin pulled back her legs, and slammed them into the beast's approaching stomach, knocking him off of her.

"You're going to have to do better than that plush toy!" Meilin said with a cocky laugh. Kero let out a growl, he was sure that would work, but he should have known better. Even if she was annoying, and loud, the brat knew what she was doing, unlike himself at the moment.

"Damn brat!" Kero growled. "I'm just getting started!" With that he fired another blast of fire that Meilin quickly dodged, and charged in again, ready to continue.

OOOOO

Sakura stared at her new weapon in awe. When Li had mentioned Kimiko, Sakura felt something inside her begin to churn. Her river of power had completely shattered the mental dam that was blocking it, and everything seemed to flow down to her hand. When Li attacked, she was amazed that she could actually keep up with his attacks. Earlier she was having trouble just seeing the blurs of his sword. But she had focused so much on dodging that she forgot to watch her footwork, and that had caused her to trip on the tree root.

At that point, her hand was burning her like an intense fire. She felt her skin begin to scorch, and burn, she even thought she had felt smoke rising out of her hand. She knew if she didn't find some way to let out the power, her hand would burn up, she had to do something, anything. As she tripped, and saw Li's sword coming down towards her, she let out the only word she could think of at the moment,

"Release!"

Power burst from her hand like a flood bursting through a door. The wind blasted through the air as she felt her power take shape into something that blocked Li's sword. A pink staff like wand.

But this one was different from the last one she usually created with sticks. The one she had now, had no blade at the top. Instead there was a head that Sakura could only describe as bird-like. The head had a pink beak like nose that reminded the girl of a bird. The two rubies on each side seemed like eyes, and the small wings on each end were its wings. Sakura could feel a greater power coming from this wand than her other one, it even felt lighter, and easier to use as well.

"Congratulations," Li muttered as he sheathed his sword. "You've cleared lesson one."

"Eh….?"

"You made the staff without use a stick as a base, that was the point of the lesson remember?" Sakura nodded.

"But I don't understand, why did that matter so much?" Li just groaned as he placed his hands in his sleeves and sat down in front of her.

"Because the way you were making your staff before, made it hollow," Li said as if that explained everything, the blank look on Sakura's face told him otherwise. "Look, up until now you needed a stick to make your staff right? By putting some of your power into the stick you were able to make a staff."

"Yeah."

"But a stick is still a stick. It might have looked like a staff on the outside, but inside it was still as weak as a stick. If any of the guys you have faced before realized this, they would have used an attack that would attack the power you were putting into the stick, and destroy it."

"Like what you were doing before right?" Li nodded. "But how will making a staff with my own power make me stronger?"

"Because, it comes directly from you. By using your own power to make a weapon, you make a weapon that is an extension of yourself, and can better channel you powers," Li explained. Sakura looked at the staff in her hands, she did feel her powers flowing better inside of her than before.

"Using the stick to make the staff, meant using a certain amount of power to reform the stick. But after that is done, the power that made the staff is isolated from your body," he continued.

"Why?"

"It has already completed its task. So as a result you needed to focus more in order to use your wind attacks with it. But by making it on your own it means that your power has to constantly flow in order to keep it in that form. Because of that, since your power is already flowing, it makes it easier to use your powers with it. Get it?"

"I guess so," Sakura replied uncertainly. Li rolled his eyes, and pulled out his hands from his sleeves, while putting them into a hand seal.

"I guess a demonstration would be better for you," he said, and began to mutter something that Sakura couldn't make out. The next thing she knew Li was glowing yellow, then suddenly in a bright flash, there was suddenly a clone of Li standing next to the original.

"Wow Li! I didn't know you could do that!" Sakura exclaimed in amazement.

"Idiot!" they both yelled, making Sakura wince. "Shut up and attack!" Sakura got up, and looked at both Li quizzically.

"But what if I hurt you?"

"Just do it!" they both yelled again. Sakura nodded, and raised her staff slowly. She looked at both of the Lis before she swung her staff lightly. Right before she swung, the real Li leapt into a tree, just in time to see his clone get blown almost fifty yards away. Sakura looked in awe at what she had just done.

"Hoooeeeeeee!!!!" she squealed. The clone had become a dot in the sky, and Sakura was in awe. Before she would have had to swing the staff hard and like a bat in order to use an attack like that. Now she could do it with a just a light swing! What else could this staff she couldn't help but wonder.

"See what I mean," Li said simply as he jumped down from the tree.

"But, but, but…." Sakura stuttered, still in shock. "If I was able to do this, why didn't you let me learn it sooner?"

"You weren't strong enough then," Li answered simply. "If I had taught you this sooner, you would barely be able to stand. Your power was just pathetic back then, I'm surprised you made it this far at all in one piece."

"Thank you….?" Sakura replied with confusion.

"At any rate," he said as he reached for his sword. "You've passed lesson one, now it's time for lesson two."

"Hoeee? But Li I just got this down right! Can't we take a break?"

"No," Li replied softly, and within seconds his sword slammed against Sakura's staff.

"W-Wait!"

"It's time for lesson two: learning how to use the staff. You have the rest of this week to disarm me, and trust me, I am not going to make it easy. Ready?" Sakura gritted her teeth, and managed to push Li back far enough to prepare herself.

"Yes. Let's do it." Li smirked and rushed towards her.

"Fine with me."

AN: Finally this one is done. The hardest part about this chapter was the Ki explanation with Tomoyo and Eriol. The hardest part was making sure it wasn't too confusing. I hope I did all right. And turns out Meilin will appear in this training arc after all. I felt like something was missing without her and Kero as I typed this chapter. Then I figured if everyone else is training, why not Meilin and Kero? And in case you couldn't tell from my desciption, Sakura has her Sealing Wand now. It was hard for me to describe what the head looked like. Anyway, it's Spring Break for me right now, which would usually mean a lot of time for me to update, but my dad is really getting on my case to study for the AP Exams and SATs next month, plus he's pushing me to learn to drive. (Sigh) In the words of Shikamaru "How Troublesome." It's a shame to, because the anniversary of this fic is in four days. That's right people in four days Seven Deadly Jewels is three years old! YAY!!!!!! I started this my freshman year of High School, I'm a junior now, and still not finished. I am hoping to finish this part of the fic by the time my junior year is over, or the beginning of my senior year. Then I can dive into the next part. That's right people Seven Deadly Jewels is going to be a trilogy! Well they won't be sequels, more like continuations since this story is _so damn long!!!!_ This trilogy is probably going to continue even after I graduate from college! Damn! Well I bet you guys are happy, this story is going to be around for a long long long time! And I don't plan on discontinuing, I am determined to finish this no matter what, besides its fun to write. Anyway, that's the future of this fic. In terms of chapters I have no idea how long it's going to be. But whatever, anyway here's the preview for the next chapter!

_Sakura: Boy Li wasn't kidding when he said it wasn't going to be easy. This part of the lesson is harder than the last one! But I know I can do it! I have to get stronger! _

_Tomoyo: And despite what Eriol-kun says, learning to get my ki to flow is quite difficult, but I must learn to do this! _

_Kero: Damn it! You guys have it easy! The brat is kicking my ass, and I'm nowhere close to scratching here, let alone pinning her! This is hopeless! _

_Tomoyo: Will we make it through our individual trails? Find out in "Lesson Two: Difficult Details" Next Seven Deadly Jewels! _

_Kero: Oh and since the author probably won't be able to update in time, HAPPY ANIVERSERY SEVEN DEADLY JEWELS!!!!_

_Tomoyo: We would like to thank everyone for reading and especially thank the reviewers for reviewing these past three years. Please continue to support us. _

_Kero: Especially you reviewers! The author loves to read your opinions, they are the closest thing to a paycheck he's going to get for this story so keep them coming! _

_Sakura: And a special thanks to Nanie-san for her drawings. Please continue those as well, the author loves them. And if anyone else would like to draw any characters from this story please send a private message to the author to let him know._

_Kero: And if our lazy author/boss had remembered the anniversary earlier he probably would have had a fan art contest or something. _

_Li: What would they win? Our author is a broke High School student, plus the only thing he owns is his PS2, and there's no way he's going to give that up. _

_Eriol: Well there's always next year I guess. _

_Tomoyo: That aside, thank you everyone for reading and reviewing. As long that continues there will be a story. So please continue. _

_Entire Group: HAPPY THREE-YEAR ANIVERSERY SEVEN DEADLY JEWELS!!!!!! _


	61. Lesson 2: Difficult Details

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 61

A loud CLANG echoed through the forest as Sakura's staff, and Li's sword collided together. Li pushed Sakura back close to four feet before the young girl stomped her foot into the ground to stop herself. The amber-eyed fighter suddenly pulled back, and whirled around into a spin kick. Sakura's eyes widened when she felt Li's foot slam against her cheek, sending her sliding into the ground. Sakura quickly rolled to the side to avoid a stab and swung her staff, sending out a powerful wave of wind. Li gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep himself grounded, but to no avail. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air like a leaf.

"Hoeeee!" Sakura gasped in awe. She could not get over how powerful this new staff was, but that only meant that she had to learn how to control it better. The leas thing she wanted was to accidentally blow Li half way across the world. She closed her eyes and tried to mentally slow down or block the power she felt flowing through her, but the sheer amount she was feeling was too much to hold back. She tried harder, trying to imagine the dam that had been holding back her powers before, but to no avail.

At that moment, a blast of lighting collided with the ground inches away from her feet. Sakura looked up and saw Li jumping out of the trees, his sword raised over his head. Thinking quickly, Sakura swung her staff, sending a blast of debris towards the airborne swordsman. Li sliced through the approaching projectiles with little effort, and the second his feet hit the ground, he rushed towards Sakura. The young girl blocked his overhead attack with the middle of her staff, and swung the head towards the swordsman wrist, hoping it would cause him to let go of the sword. Li quickly saw this and jumped back, allowing Sakura's attack pass by before he charged again with rapid slash attacks.

Sakura blindly defended against Li's barrage, waving her staff in whatever direction her hands directed her to. After three minutes of this, Sakura finally managed to catch one of Li's attacks with the head of her staff. The young girl quickly pushed up, making Li stumble, and she pulled back for a wind attack, but stopped suddenly herself. What if she created too much wind? What if she accidentally hurt Li? The amber-eyed teen noticed her hesitation, and whirled around to retain his balance. The next thing Sakura knew she was flat on her back, the wind knocked out of her, with Li's foot extended.

"No hesitating!" he barked as he attacked her with a slash. "Hesitating kills!" Sakura rolled out of the way, and pushed to herself to her feet. She was tempted to tell her trainer that she hesitating for his sake but she didn't think that he would have cared. Sakura barely dodged a thrust, and swung her staff. Li jumped into the air to avoid the blast, and flipped behind the young girl. Sakura whirled around, swinging her staff as she went, but Li easily ducked under her weapon. He swung his sword upwards, knocking the staff out of Sakura's hand as he swept her feet, brining her to the ground. Sakura brought her head up only to see Li place his sword inches away from her throat with her staff in his other hand.

"I win," he announced simply. Sakura let out a frustrated sigh as she got to her feet.

"Let's keep going!"

"No," Li replied shortly as he sheathed his sword. "It's practically sunset, we've been going almost all day. If you push it too much you'll either pass out of exhaustion or you'll slip up during sparing, and get killed by me by accident."

"No, I want to keep going, please!" Li just scoffed and threw her staff back to her.

"Fine. We'll continue." With that, Li once again drew his sword and dashed towards Sakura. The young girl dug her foot into the ground and braced herself for the swordsman's attack. She kept her eyes on his sword as he raised it over his head to begin the training again. But just when Sakura was about to block the sword, Li suddenly swung his hips, and a kick collided with the side of her head, instantly knocking her over, and making her ears ring.

"Moron!" he barked as he once again rushed towards her. "Just because I raised my sword doesn't mean I'm going to use it!"

Sakura managed to quickly shake of the kick in time to dodge Li's swing. She flipped over him, and fired a blast of wind from her staff, knocking Li back. The swordsman managed to keep himself standing as the wind attack passed, and took out a talisman.

"Element, Lighting!" The incoming blast, Sakura realized, was much stronger than the one he had used to attack her before. The young girl froze, and acted out of pure instinct, when the blast was close enough she twirled her staff, and redirected the lighting blast upwards. Li fired another blast, and Sakura repeated the tactic, this time redirecting the lighting to the left. Another blast came, and Sakura once again twirled her staff but this time rushed forward, making sure she kept spinning her staff as she went. When she was close enough Sakura quickly transferred her staff into a swing motion catching Li by surprise. The young man jumped into the air and saw the wind created by Sakura's weapon blow down at least ten or more trees.

"Hooooeeeee!!!!!" Sakura squealed in amazement when she looked at the damage her staff caused. With a normal swing, she noted, it would only effect only three or four trees at most, but when she twirled it, more power could be produced. Sakura instantly thought of way to use this new discovery, and turned to face Li just in time to duck under a slash.

Sakura twirled her staff as she spun around to face the young man, and shifted into a normal swing once she was behind him. But when her weapon connected, Li disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Huh?"

"Element Lighting!" he yelled from the trees, and Sakura didn't have time to block it. The blast knocked her against a tree, making her cry out in pain.

"Always be mindful of possible tricks," Li said as he jumped down from the tree. Sakura tried to get up, but her body wouldn't listen. She gritted her teeth as she pushed herself to get to her feet, her legs just refused to move. The young girl managed to move her upper body, but eventually that gave out as well. Her eyelids became heavy until finally she lost consciousness.

"I...can...keep...going..." she muttered as her eyes dropped.

"Stupid girl," Li muttered in annoyance. She was already low on energy, and his blast took all that was left, and yet she still wanted to continue. He wasn't sure if he should have been impressed or annoyed with her persistence. With an annoyed sigh, Li sheathed his sword, and sat under a tree. He knew Sakura wouldn't be waking up anytime soon so he decided to get some rest himself. He opened one eye to watch Sakura as he thought about her progress.

'She might be annoying, and naïve, but she has good instincts. She actually managed to figure out the power of circular motion. If she's smart she'll use it to her advantage. Can she do it?' he looked over the unconscious girl with his open eye before closing it with a groan. 'Maybe.'

OOOOO

"All right, are you ready Tomoyo-san?" Eriol asked as he sat across from Tomoyo. "Trying make your ki flow when its spent many years dormant can take a long time. It can even be a little painful."

"I don't care," Tomoyo replied with a determined look in her eyes. "I want to do this."

"All right then, to start off place your hands together so that the tips of your fingers are touching, but your palms are still apart." Tomoyo did as she was told. "Now close your eyes, and try to feel your ki within you. It will feel like dam full of water in your stomach. So you have to break the dam."

"How do I do that?" Tomoyo asked as she closed her eyes.

"It will be pure instinct. The problem with ki, is that since everyone is different, there is no real way to teach someone to make it flow. For one person it might take a lot of their inner strength, for others, hardly any. It all depends on the person really, and how much they want it to flow. But enough my explanations, please begin Tomoyo-san."

Tomoyo took a deep breath, and tried to focus her mind inwards. She tried hard to feel the dammed lake inside of her like Eriol said, but all she could see was the back of her eyelids. She squeezed her eyes shut harder, and mentally pushed herself to feel it, but she still felt nothing. She gritted her teeth, and her face scrunched together as if she were trying to push something ten times her weight up a hill. She flexed the muscles in her arms down to her feet, and her head felt as if it was going to pop with the all pressure that seemed to be on it, but still she felt nothing in terms inner energy.

"No, no, no Tomoyo-san," Eriol interjected suddenly, snapping Tomoyo out of her inner trance. "Your body is way too tense. It will be impossible for your ki to flow if your body is tightened up like that."

"But how...!"

"Relax," Eriol interrupted. "Like I said before, ki flow best when the user is calm. Not only in mindset, but body too. Relax your body, and just let it come naturally, don't force it."

"I understand," Tomoyo replied and closed her eyes again for another attempt.

The dark-haired girl took a deep breath, and released the air through her mouth, trying to get her body to relax as much as it could. She took another breath, and carefully tried to feel the lake of ki inside of her. When she felt a slight tinge in the center of stomach, Tomoyo took a deeper breath, this time filling her lungs with air until she thought they would burst. As she released the air through her mouth, she felt a warm feeling begin to rise in her stomach. With another deep breath, the warm feeling began to strengthen, and so she took another breath. Each breath she took seemed to give the warmth even more strength until Tomoyo felt as if her stomach was on fire.

With one last deep breath, Tomoyo felt her stomach begin to burn, so much so it began to be unbearable. She gritted her teeth, but quickly relaxed again, but the burning feeling persisted. She needed someway to release it or else she would burn up. Mentally she pushed the feeling upwards until she felt it in her chest, making her heart beat increase tenfold. Tomoyo began to pant as if she were running a marathon, the heat was only making it harder for her to breathe. Sweat formed around her forehead as the heat only seemed to increase. Her heart pounded against her chest harder and harder the longer the heat stayed in her chest. With another push, the young girl pushed the the heat down both her arms to her hands.

"You did it Tomoyo-san!" she heard Eriol exclaim. Unsure of what she just did, Tomoyo opened her eyes to track her progress. When she readjusted her vision to fit the bright sun, she saw Eriol in front of her with a huge smile on his face. Tomoyo titled her head in confusion at the doctor's smile. She was about to ask what he was smiling at when she felt an unbearable burning in her palms. Tomoyo winced, and gritted her teeth at the sudden sensation. She looked down to see the source, and at that moment she realized the source of Eriol's smile.

In her hands was a bright purple light, the size of a melon .

"Wh-wh-what is this?!" she exclaimed in panic.

"This is your ki Tomoyo-san! You did it! You got it to flow!" But Eriol's eyes widened when he saw that the ki was still growing in size, and at the rate it was going would set itself off in Tomoyo's hands.

"Tomoyo-san, let go of it," he ordered.

"How?"

"Just put your hands in front of you and push it away." As Tomoyo held out her hands, Eriol quickly jumped out of the way, and signaled Tomoyo to let go. The dark-haired girl pushed ki with all her strength and watched it fly clear to the center of the forest. There was a moment of silence before a loud explosion burst through the air, and the debris of the trees fell from the sky like rain. Tomoyo looked at her hands in disbelief.

"I did...that...?"

"Amazing isn't it?" Eriol said with a smile. "What you just fired was pure ki. Without any manipulation or anything to dilute it, ki becomes a very destructive energy."

"Are there people who use pure ki to attack?" Tomoyo asked as she kept her eyes on her hands as if the ki would suddenly spring back to life.

"There are, but they are very rare," he answered. "To use ki in that fashion requires much stamina. But if someone is successful, they are able to fire multiple blasts like that one in rapid succession."

"I see," Tomoyo replied in between her pants. Eriol was right, releasing the ki just then took away a lot of her energy. She was so drained that she could barely keep herself in her sitting position. Her eyelids became so heavy it was a chore for Tomoyo to keep them open. The words Eriol was saying to her became lost as she finally lost consciousness.

"I guess the next thing we should work on her stamina," the doctor chuckled to himself when he saw Tomoyo's unconscious form. Eriol looked at the setting sun, and clapped his hands together, making a futon for Tomoyo to sleep on.

"Sleep well Tomoyo-san."

OOOOO

"Come on bath sponge give it up," Meilin said with a groan as she watched Kero struggle to his feet. "We've been going all day! I haven't even eaten anything!"

"No! I can beat you!" The beast dashed forward with roar, but Meilin just rolled her eyes. She easily evaded Kero's frontal attack by jumping to the side, but she was caught by surprise when Kero swung his lower half towards her. Meilin quickly back flipped, and pushed herself towards the beast as soon as her feet touched the ground. Kero fired a blast of fire at her, making her slow herself down. The minute Kero saw her slow down, he rushed towards her intent on tackling her. Seeing his intent, Meilin bent her upper body backwards and slammed her legs into the beast's chin, sending him flying backwards.

"Geez, your way too slow bath sponge," she said as she flipped into standing. "You should have reacted faster when you saw me slow down."

"Stupid brat," Kero growled and struggled to his feet, but his body lost its battle with gravity and the beast collapsed with a loud thud, and within seconds he reverted back to his smaller form.

"So he used up all his energy," Meilin just sighed and started to look for something to eat.

OOOOO

Sakura slowly opened her eyes with a soft groan. The light from the sun left her temporarily blinded, and her body felt very sluggish. When she went to stand, her legs felt like jelly, making her stumble back to sitting.

"Don't force it," Li said from the tree above her. "Your body is still trying to recover all that energy you used up."

"How long was I asleep?"

"About three days."

"Hoeee!! Three days! Why didn't you wake me up!"

"It would have been impossible, your body was completely shut down until you gained back your energy, you wouldn't be able to wake even if I did try," he explained as he jumped down. "And I can why your brother calls you a monster all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if you scared off every animal and demon in this forest with your damn snoring."

Sakura blushed in embarrassment, and looked down. When she did, her eyes fell on a pile of fruit, and a cup of water in front of her. The pile of fruit went up as high as her knee when it was bent, and the water was enough for at least a week. She carefully picked up one of the fruits, and looked at Li.

"Did you get these for me?"

"Eat up," Li replied ignoring the question as he looked away. "Your body needs energy." Sakura glanced at him, and smiled brightly.

"Thank you." When she took a bite she felt a wave of relief pass through her, and before she knew it she took another one, then another. Within seconds Sakura was picking up another fruit and finishing it just as fast as the first. It felt as if her body was moving on its own, and Sakura was just watching. She gulped down the water faster than she thought and finished off the rest of the fruits within moments. When she was finished Li looked at her with a slight bewilderment.

"You've been hanging around the stuffed animal too long," he muttered.

"Speaking of Kero, where are the others? I haven't seen them since we started."

"Focus on your training," he barked and jumped down from the tree with his sword drawn. Sakura nodded at Li's silent signal, and held out her palm. She felt her powers churn inside of her, and felt the warmth flow towards her palm.

"Release!" she exclaimed, and within seconds her staff was formed.

"Ready?" Li asked as he shifted into a stance. Sakura nodded, and without another word Li charged in, and began the day's training session.

OOOOO

Tomoyo awoke with a soft groan, and shielded her eyes from the bright sun. She found herself laying on a soft and comfortable futon, the kind someone of royalty would probably be laying on. She turned around and half expected to see servants in a rich looking room, but instead she saw Eriol smiling at her.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"How long was I asleep for," Tomoyo asked drowsily.

"Three days," Eriol replied.

"I see..." she said. "Why was I asleep for three days?"

"Well, releasing so much of your ki at once when it was your first time using it wore out your body. And so it had to regain all that energy you lost."

"Oh, so am I all right now?" Eriol chuckled.

"Your awake aren't you?" the doctor handed her a plate of fish with some water. "But still some food wouldn't hurt."

"Thank you." Tomoyo finished the fish and water about as fast as Sakura. When she was finished a burp escaped her lips, and she covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Excuse me." Eriol laughed.

"Don't worry about it. Now, are you ready to continue?" Tomoyo nodded, and slipped out of the futon. With a snap of his fingers, the futon disappeared.

"Are we going to work with the thread today?"

"No, the ki control and manipulation needed to use the threads is still pretty complicated for a first timer. So instead we're going to do something simpler, and it will help your ki control."

"Oh?" Eriol reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of twenty kunai.

"Remember these?" Tomoyo nodded. "Well first we need to work on your aim..." Without a word, Tomoyo took eight of the throwing knives and positioned herself in front of a tree about thirty feet away.

"You wish to see my aim correct?" she asked, and with that she threw one of the knives, making a bullseye in the center of the trunk. She threw another one, making it land a few inches below the first. She threw another two, which landed a few inches to the left of the first two. Tomoyo threw the last of the set she took, and turned back to Eriol with a smile. "Is that enough for you?"

She had made a perfect a circle with the kunai.

"A-amazing Tomoyo-san!" the doctor said awe, for once at a loss for words. "How did you develop such aim?"

"Well, I did have a large amount of spare time back home," she said simply. "So what was it you wanted to show me with the kunai?" Eriol shook of his shock, and held up the remaining kunai.

"Well seeing that your aim is already perfect we can move on. As you can probably already tell, kunai are very light, and made for throwing. But they can also be very versatile when combined with ki."

"Really?"

"For example," Eriol walked over to the circle Tomoyo made, and pulled out the knives. He picked up two and implanted them into the trunk. After holding onto them for a few seconds, jumped and landed on the handles of the kunai, and stood on them as if he were still on the ground. Tomoyo's eyes widened in awe.

"Incredible! The kunais shouldn't be able to hold you like that. You should be struggling just to keep your balance."

"You see, by putting my ki inside of the kunai, I can make it hold up to a thousand times its own weight."

"But how?"

"I inserted the same amount ki that's in my feet and legs, so when my own feet and legs made contact, they add to the ki in the kunai, and makes it so that the two kunais are more like an extension of my feet, understand?"

"Yes, please me try." Eriol nodded, and threw two that landed at Tomoyo's feet. The dark-haired girl picked them up and closed her eyes. She felt the heat in her stomach, and took a series of deep breaths to get it to move. At that moment she felt a large amount rise through her stomach and chest, into her hands. Her hands, and the metal in the weapon began to burn as the ki reached them. Fearing that she might be burnt, Tomoyo threw the two kunais at the tree next to Eriol. They made direct bullseye like she expected, but she did not expect what happened next.

The tree exploded into pieces, shocking both her and Eriol.

"Huh?"

"You used too much ki," the doctor explained as he jumped down, and pulled out the kunais. "Like I said ki can be very destructive when not manipulated correctly."

"All right." Tomoyo took another two, and closed her eyes. She felt the heat in her stomach, but took shallower breaths, making a smaller amount rise into her hands. Tomoyo winced when she still felt the heat. With a grunt she threw the two kunais, and they both were stabbed into the tree truck correctly, but when Tomoyo went up to complete the drill, the tree exploded, sending her back.

"Still too much," Eriol said. He gave Tomoyo another two, and she took even shallower breaths. The heat created when the ki reached her hands still made her wince, but she ignored it. The girl threw the kunais again, and made a perfect bullseye. She carefully went up to the tree, but once again it exploded.

"One more time," she muttered to herself. She took another two, and repeated the process. The heat began to sting her hands and she winced as she threw them. But once again the tree exploded. Tomoyo exhaled her frustration and picked up yet another two, but the process still repeated itself. Nine more tries later it looked as if a battle had taken place.

"You're still putting too much in them," Eriol said after her tenth try. He was surprised at the girl's patience. After ten tries he hadn't seen her let out a frustrated yell, or throw down the kunais and give up. But the frustration was still apparent in her eyes.

"I don't know how I can tell when I have too much," she said surprisingly calm.

"Let me help," the doctor picked up two kunais and stood next to Tomoyo. "Put your hands on my stomach and hand." Tomoyo raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Trust me it will help."

Tomoyo did as she was told, and felt a large amount of heat in Eriol's stomach. She felt as if her hands would melt if she held on anymore, but she pushed herself to hold on. Eriol took a breath, and Tomoyo felt some of the heat in his stomach churn. A steady stream of it rose through his chest to his hand. But unlike the almost unbearable heat in his stomach, the heat she was feeling moving through to his hand was stable, small, and warm. When it reached his hand it was a comfortable heat that didn't sting or burn. Tomoyo opened her eyes and removed her hands, removing their connection.

"I understand now," she announced, and picked up two kunais. She closed her eyes and took a single breath. She felt a small stream move up to her chest. Tomoyo smiled knowing that she grasped the concept this time. The heat reached her hands, and like Eriol, it was comfortable, and stable. The girl opened her eyes and threw the knives. When they landed, she carefully moved up to the tree, and hesitantly placed her hand on the trunk. Minutes passed, and nothing happened. Seeing this as a sign, Tomoyo carefully placed a foot on the kunai handle. It was as if she had placed her foot inside of one of her shoes. Quickly she did the same with her other foot, and looked down, she had done it.

"Perfect Tomoyo-san, perfect!" Eriol clapped.

"Thank you."

'Her ki is even more adaptable than I thought,' the doctor thought as he watched Tomoyo pull out the knives and try again. 'She felt my body demonstrate the correct method only once, and her ki absorbed the information so quickly. That would have been impossible for most ki masters. Who is this girl?'

OOOOO

Sakura dodged a fast slash from Li, and twirled her staff as she spun into a swing. Li jumped to the side avoiding the powerful gust that was created, and rushed in with a stab at Sakura. The young girl spun on the balls on her feet like a dancer, avoiding the thrust and moving in close to Li. The girl did a quick spin with her staff before attacking with a swing. An even stronger gust hit Li, as he tried to dig his feet into the ground to keep from flying, but to no avail. Before he knew it he flew into a tree. He groaned as he went to get up, only to find his sword was gone! He looked around frantically, only to see Sakura holding it up with a smile.

"Sorry," she said cheerfully. Li scoffed as he picked himself up and grabbed his sword from her. "I've cleared lesson two right?"

"Right," Li muttered as he sheathed his sword. He was ashamed that she managed to disarm him with a such a simple maneuver. She had spun on the balls of her feet, avoiding the sword, but at the same time spinning straight into the inside of his arm, setting herself up for the swing. A simple but creative move.

"Where did you learn to move like that?" he asked softly as if ashamed of asking.

"Oh, well dad made me take dance for a few years, and there was a lot of spinning so I just used a move from one of my lessons," she replied sheepishly.

"Nice thinking," Li muttered just barely above a whisper, but Sakura still heard it nonetheless, making her double take.

"What did you say?" had he actually complimented her?

"Nothing!" he quickly dismissed. "Now onto the final lesson!" He drew his sword, and knocked Sakura's staff out of her hands. Before she could protest, Li attacked. Sakura quickly jumped back.

"What is it now?" she asked with a hint of uncertainty.

"Lesson Three: Unarmed Combat. Without using your staff, defeat me!"

"Hoeeee!" Sakura squealed. How could she do that!

"Now, begin!"

OOOOO

"Hey!" Meilin yelled kicking Kero's sleeping form. "Wake up you stupid beast! Wake up! Wake up dammit!" No matter how loud Meilin yelled, the beast just wouldn't stir.

"I SAID WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!"

AN: Finally this one is down. (Sigh of relief). I finally break away from all my test preps long enough to finish this chapter. This one was kind of hard since it felt like more of the same training-wise. But oh well, I'm just glad that the next chap, is the last one in this training arc, after that we get back to business! (Hopefully). I think I might have rushed the ending a little bit, probably because I didn't want to make it too long, and had no idea when my dad would drag me back into another test prep, thing. The U.S. History AP exams are next week, I'm not that worried since I feel I know my stuff, but you never know what those college board bastards will ask. (Especially when the time frame is from Jamestown to the Iraqi war in the 90s.) Summer is coming up though, hopefully I'll have more than enough free time. (Although my dad is pushing me to get a summer job, damn it!). Well enough of my complaining here the preview for the next chapter!

_Sakura: For my last lesson I have to beat Li without my staff! Hoeee!!!! That sounds impossible! I barely disarmed him with my staff! _

_Tomoyo: I finally learn the thread technique, with some practice I know I will be able to help the others in the future._

_Kero: I'm still getting my ass kicked here! I'm not learning anything! _

_Tomoyo: Perhaps you shouldn't eat as much Kero-chan. _

_Kero: Blasphemy! _

_Sakura: So join us for "Hard Mastery," next Seven Deadly Jewels, see you then! _


	62. Lesson 3: Hard Mastery

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 62

Sakura let out a small squeal as she dodged another one of Li's slashes. The amber-eyed swordsman whirled around, and followed up with a back fist to her temple that she quickly ducked under. The young girl spun around and fired a strong blast, but Li quickly jumped in the air to avoid it. Sakura fired another blast at the branch he landed on, trying to throw him off, but a blast of lighting pierced through her attack, making Sakura jump back.

When she looked up, she saw a sliver blur rapidly approaching her neck. Sakura shot out her arms and blew Li back, but the young man flipped to regain his balance, and charged again. Sakura moved her body about, dodging the attacks, but with some control of her movements, unlike her terrified movements from when she first started. But it still didn't make her current situation any easier. She could tell Li had increased his attacking speed close to what he used in real fights. His sword nicked her many times on her arms and stomach before she jumped back. She saw Li rush towards her, and fired another blast of wind, but the swordsmen easily dodged and countered with a blast of lighting. Sakura was thrown back into a tree with a loud yelp.

She quickly rolled to the side avoiding a downward strike, and somersaulted to her feet. The young girl thrust out her hand as Li began to chase after her, but the swordsman easily dodged and kept up his pursuit. When she turned around again she saw a blast of lighting shooting towards her. Sakura managed to shift her run to the left avoiding the attack, but another blast followed soon after it. She looked up and saw that she was quickly approaching a tree, thinking quickly, she thrust her hand towards the ground, blowing herself upwards towards the tree avoiding the lighting. But just as Sakura was about to land on a branch, Li fired another blast of lighting, destroying the branch, and taking away Sakura's landing point. Sakura tumbled through the air trying to land on her feet, but her efforts proved unsuccessful when she landed face first on the ground.

"Owwww," she groaned as she got to her feet. At that moment Li rushed in with a slash towards her neck that she quickly ducked under, and countered with a blast of wind. Li quickly jumped to the side, and dashed into a series of slashes at Sakura. The young girl dodged with all her might while stepping back a few steps. She managed to evade a sudden thrust, but was knocked back five feet by a strong kick to her stomach. Sakura rolled back when she saw lighting heading her way, and fired another blast of wind that Li easily dodged.

"So predictable," he muttered as he charged in. Before Sakura knew it, she was on the receiving end of a strong elbow to her chin sending her back into a tree. As Sakura rubbed her head she saw that something had fallen out of her pocket, it was four cards, the spirit cards she had gathered so far. Sakura slapped her forehead for forgetting she had them, if she had remembered them the last two lessons probably wouldn't have been so tough. When she saw Li coming towards her, she quickly picked up one of them.

"Woody!" she called. "Bind my foe!" With those words the card glowed, and the spirit gracefully flew out of the card, passing over the trees. At that moment, the branches on the trees around Li sprang to life, wrapping around him like vines before they solidified into branches again. The young man struggled against the branches but they were too strong for him to break.

"Not bad," he muttered. "But not good enough." He managed to free his left hand, and reached into his cloak for one of his talismans. "Element Fire!" Fire sparked from the talisman before expanding into a large bonfire the minute it made contact with the wood binding him, and in only a few seconds Li freed himself.

"Watery!" Sakura yelled, and the water spirit burst from the card and flew into the fire, putting it out before it could spread. Once it was out, she saw Li charging again. Sakura ducked under a swing and thrust her hand towards his stomach, but the swordsman easily slapped it away, and bent her arm behind her head.

"Is this all you can do?" he said as Sakura struggled to free herself. "Just blowing your wind around? If this were a real fight the enemy would have caught on to your lack of technique, and killed you by now."

Despite the steel like grip on her wrist, Sakura couldn't help but think about what Li said. Up until now the only attack she really could do was blow wind. But what else could she do? What else could wind do? She wasn't sure how else she could harness her element, but she had to figure out something for the future. Wanting to escape from Li's grip first and foremost, Sakura held out her left hand to use another blast of wind. But because of the pain on her wrist, she accidentally sent too little of her power to her hand. Before she could add more, she felt the air around her hand swirl.

"Huh?" she muttered to herself when she felt it. Knowing she couldn't experiment while in Li's grip she flipped one of her cards over to face him. "Watery!" Water burst from the card and slammed Li back, freeing Sakura, and giving her a chance to hide in some bushes.

Not sure how much time she had before Li found her, Sakura held out her hand again, and sent the same amount of her power to her hand as before. As she expected, the air around her hand swirled. She sent a little more to her hand, and the air swirled faster, but there was more air this time. As a final test, Sakura sent the same amount of her power as she used to use her wind blasts, but she kept the power in her hand instead of shooting it out. The air spun even faster than before, Sakura added a little more, and allowed some her power to shoot out. The spinning air and her pink aura joined together to form a small pink ball of spinning air that fit in the palm of her hand.

"Wow!" she said in awe as she stared at the spinning air trying to think of way to use it in future fights. Suddenly a blast of lighting pierced through the bushes and hit the ball. At that moment it exploded into a small wind storm that sent Sakura flying backwards almost twenty feet. She opened her eyes with a groan and saw Li standing over her with his sword ready.

"Hi," he said simply.

OOOOO

"All right Tomoyo-san, are you ready?" Eriol asked the dark haired girl. For the entire morning she had been working on the kunai and putting her ki inside of it. When the afternoon hit, Eriol realized that she had more or less mastered the skill, and that she was ready to handle the thread.

"Yes I am Eriol-kun," she replied surely.

"But first, tell me all that you have learned about ki so far."

"Ki is the natural universal energy inside all of us. It is the gateway to use the other forms of energy in this world, like elemental energy, celestial energy, and spiritual energy. The ki in the body flows like a river, and the power comes from how it flows and how fast. It flows best when the user is calm, focused, and sure," Tomoyo repeated as if she was reciting from a textbook.

"Good, good," Eriol said with pride in his eyes. "Go on."

"Everybody's ki flows a different way based on their body type, and what kind of attack they are going to use. Someone's ki flow allows them to use certain kinds of attacks, but since people can't change their fundamental ki flow there are only certain kinds of attacks they can use. So, someone's whose ki flows in a bulk like manner cannot use the thread technique because it requires ki flow to be swift, precise, and sharp."

"Perfect Tomoyo-san, perfect," Eriol praised as he clapped his hands. "Your ready." Tomoyo's eyes looked on with excitement as Eriol reached into his pocket and pulled out the sliver and gold cat bells.

"Only two?" she asked her head tilting in confusion. "What about the other four." Eriol chuckled.

"You aren't ready for the other four yet." Tomoyo gave him a confused look. "Trust me, you'll find these two hard enough to master, the other four are for more experienced users."

"I understand," she replied and took the two cat bells. She turned to face a tree and held up the gold bell. This was it, she was finally going to learn how to use the threads, and if she mastered it, she'd finally be able to help Sakura. Her fingers held the gold bell in anticipation, and she rolled the sliver bell in between her other fingers to control her nerves.

"Remember, feel the flow ki, and control it. Whip-like motion," Eriol reminded her as he imitated a whip's movement with his arms. Tomoyo giggled at his antics, but quickly went back on task.

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt the ki in the pit of her stomach still and ready to do what she wanted. Tomoyo mentally called out to some of her ki, and she felt the heat move up from her stomach to her chest. With another deep breath she pushed the ki down her arm to her fingers where she held the cat bell. The heat of the ki gathered around the bell, and she felt a soothing warmth in between her fingers. At that moment she felt something churn within the bell, as if the wheels were given the gas it needed to move. She felt a power in the bell slowly come to the surface of the bell, but it wasn't coming out. Tomoyo took another deep breath pushing more of her ki into the bell, but still nothing came out.

"Eriol-kun, why isn't it working? I'm doing everything right aren't I? Why is nothing happening?"

"Imagine a trigger," the doctor replied simply. "That could all the difference."

Tomoyo shut her eyes again, and imagined herself not with a bell, but a small rifle. She imagined her finger moving down the shaft and to small trigger beneath it. With a deep breath she pulled the trigger of her imaginary rifle, Tomoyo thought she would be blown back by the force of the release alone. A large surge of ki suddenly came together, and shot out all at once. It felt as if she had grown five extra arms, and they all stretched like rubber. Tomoyo carefully opened her eyes and saw five sliver threads shooting out of the bell and towards the tree. The thread felt as if they were a part of her, as if she really had grown five extra arms. As she saw the thread reach the tree they thrust into the bark, and came to rest, but other than that nothing happened to the tree.

"Good job Tomoyo-san! You did it!" Eriol cheered.

"But I didn't destroy the tree like you did," she replied.

"That's because all you did was shoot out the threads, you have to control it too. The force and power of these threads come of the initial release from the bell. If it ever comes to rest it loses its power. So to keep the momentum going and not lose the power, you have to use your ki to bend and control it in mid-air."

"How?"

"By adding more ki into the thread. The ki you use for the initial release of it is still there, but all it's doing is making it go forward. The thread needs a new set of ki each time to bend it different directions."

"But the threads would be so far away. How would I get my ki to reach it?"

"Simple. The threads felt like an extension of yourself correct? So it won't be too hard if you think of the threads as just another set of your arms."

"All right." Tomoyo held up the sliver bell and pointed it to the same tree. She called to her ki, pushing to her fingers. When she felt the soothing warming around her fingers, she mentally pulled the trigger and felt the threads shoot out of the bell. She grabbed her wrist, and quickly pushed for more ki into the threads, but by the time she felt the ki reach the threads, they had already pierced through the bark, and were still.

"Not fast enough," Eriol pointed out.

"How do I pull back the threads when they stop moving?" she asked her eyes burning with determination.

"Just call them back with your ki." Tomoyo nodded, and did what Eriol told her. She took a deep breath, reaching what ki was already in the thread and mentally pulled on them like reins on a horse. Within seconds the threads were back in the bells, and Tomoyo was ready to try again.

As the day wore on Tomoyo began to realize how much harder the threads were compared to the kunai. With the kunai she had them directly in her fingers before she threw them, giving her plenty of time to put ki into it. But with the threads she had to put ki into them as they flew through the air, and it didn't help that they were very fast. It seemed every time she managed to get her ki to the thread, it would have already hit the target and lose its power. It was close to dusk when Tomoyo let out a frustrated sigh.

"Do you want to take a break?" Eriol asked seeing her trembling fingers, sweat on her brow, and shaking legs.

"No thank you. I want to finish this." Tomoyo fired another batch of threads, getting her ki to flow towards it, but just as her ki reached them, the threads had once again pierced the tree and stopped moving.

'That has to be at least her 30'th try,' Eriol thought. 'Her ki won't be able to take it much longer.' He watched as Tomoyo tried again, only to have the same result.

The dark haired girl let out a sigh, and bit her lip to avoid crying out in frustration. She couldn't understand how to get her ki to the threads in time. There seemed to be no more than a five second gap between the firing of the threads, and the collision with the tree. It took at least fifteen seconds for Tomoyo to get the ki to her hands. Throughout the day she managed to cut it down to ten seconds, but that still far from on time. Was it really impossible for her to learn the technique. She quickly shook her head, she couldn't think like that. But as it stood she would not learn how to use the threads anytime soon. Tomoyo sighed again, and sat down, she could tell she was nearing her limit. She could feel her eyes start to drop, and her body begin to feel heavy, but she couldn't give up.

"There has to be a way," she muttered to herself. "I am able to more or less control my ki, and I am using the right amount for this technique, so there has to be some sort of method." She sat there for about ten minutes searching her mind for some kind of answer. If she couldn't figure out way, then she would just be dead weight to Sakura, a fate she wished to avoid at all costs. At the thought of Sakura, Tomoyo's mind drifted to when they were waitresses back home.

_Flashback _

"Oi, Kaiju," Touya called one sunny summer day. "Did you get the supplies from the store yet?"

"Yes I got it this morning," Sakura replied with an edge of annoyance at her nickname. Touya looked down at the bag of food, and utensils and sighed.

"This isn't enough."

"What do you mean? Dad said at least 50 pounds, that's 50 pounds," Sakura pointed out.

"Key word, at least," Touya emphasized. Sakura just gave him a confused look. "There's going to be a lot of people here since its summer. We really don't know how many people are going to come so we'll more than the exact amount."

"All right," Sakura sighed. "Come on Tomoyo-chan. Sorry about this."

"Well sometimes it is better to have more than enough. It gives you some to spare," she had said.

_End Flashback_

At that moment something clicked inside of Tomoyo's head, and she quickly got to her feet while picking up the sliver bell.

"Have you figured something out Tomoyo-san?" Eriol asked.

"Yes," she replied excitedly. "I was putting the exact amount into the thread to make it shoot out, but because of that I needed to go back and get more, which took up time."

"Yes, yes."

"But if I use more than I need from the start it gives me enough to spare to put in threads without taking up too much time!" she all but exclaimed, not able to hide the excitement of her discovery.

"Well then by all means try it out!" Eriol replied just as excited as she was. Tomoyo nodded, and turned to face the tree, a confident smile on her face. She closed her eyes and called out to the ki in her stomach. With a deep breath she pushed much more ki into her hands. The soothing warmth was replaced by a heat that she thought might burn her hands, but she kept pushing. When she felt she had enough, she pulled the trigger, but mentally keeping some of the ki back. Five threads shot out towards the tree, but when they were about to hit, Tomoyo pushed the ki she back into them, mentally calling them to bend around the tree. She and Eriol held their breaths as the threads drew closer to the tree.

At that moment the five threads bent around the tree, making Tomoyo and Eriol let out a cry of victory. The dark haired girl quickly pulled on the bell slightly, wrapping the threads around the bark, then she pulled hard, reducing the tree to splinters!

"You did it Tomoyo-san!!!!" Eriol cheered while giving her a huge hug. "I knew you could do it!"

"Thank you Eriol-kun," Tomoyo said with a sigh, but something crossed her mind. "Eriol-kun, how can I use the threads in battles?"

"What do you mean?" the doctor asked as he resealed her from the hug.

"I know that the threads are sharp, but I can see them being used like a sword or any other weapon. And what about against a martial artist ? I doubt that one would just stand there and allow himself to wrapped in these threads, even if they are hard to see."

"Well there are two kinds of combat Tomoyo-san, direct and indirect. Direct combat is using weapons like swords, spears, and martial arts. With those you are directly going against an opponent, and relying on your own personal skills to take them down. Direct fighters like Li and Meilin have to be strong, fast, and know many techniques since many of their fights boils down to a strength constant, and who uses what techniques better.

"Indirect fighters are much different. These fighters use strategy, tactics, and the environment to bring down an opponent. Most indirect fighters know only one technique, but that one technique has many variations. You will see an indirect fighter either constantly running or using the same technique throughout the fight until the opponent is taken down. You can compare these kinds of fights to a game chess. A series of clever movements, and traps to make it so that the enemy can no longer move or is unable to do anything to fight back.

"The threads are an indirect weapon. So don't expect to have fights like Li, Meilin, or Sakura. You don't have their strength or ability, but what you do have is your mind, and really thats all you need to win. The threads and kunai just help you carry out your battle plans . Do you understand now Tomoyo-san?"

"Yes I do, thank you." Eriol smiled and clapped his hands.

"Good. Now that you've mastered this part, it's time to teach you how to use individual threads! Ready?"

"Of course."

"So let's begin."

OOOOO

Kero opened his eyes with a groan. His body felt numb, and heavy . His eyes refused to fully open, and the setting sun was glaring down at him. He was about to ask what was going on, when a pair of fury filled ruby eyes glared down at him.

"Good to see your finally awake," Meilin said surprisingly calm.

"Uh... how long was I asleep?" the beast asked carefully.

"ALMOST FOUR FREAKIN' DAYS!!!!!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT I LOST COUNT!!!!! BUT YOU WERE ASLEEP FOR TOO DAMN LONG YOU DUMBASS BASTARD BATH SPONGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kero all but cowered behind a tree as Meilin emptied out all the anger she had built up.

"DON'T HIDE FROM ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!" Meilin slammed her leg against the tree, knocking it down. "THE TRAINING STARTS NOW!!!!!!!!!!"

"What! But I just got up!" Kero protested.

"BULLSHIT!!!!!!! IF YOU CAN HIDE BEHIND THAT TREE YOU CAN TRAIN!!!!!!! NOW LET'S GO!!!!!!!" Meilin slammed her leg against another tree knocking it over into the one next to it, causing a domino effect of trees around Kero.

"Calm down brat!" the beast exclaimed fearfully as he transformed into his true form.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING BRAT YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!!" Keroberos just barely dodged another kick and shot a blast of fire at the enraged girl, who just jumped in the air to avoid it. Kero quickly flew towards her, his mouth filled with fire. Meilin bent her upper body back when she saw the fire come towards her. But when she looked up she saw the beast dive towards her and blasted his fire at her at point-blank range. Meilin quickly shielded herself as she crashed into the ground with Kero pinning her down only seconds later.

"1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10!!!!!!!!" Kero yelled to heavens. "Yes!!!!! I beat you brat!!!!!! Admit it!!!! I beat you!!!!" But Kero didn't have time to savor his victory because Meilin gave him a kick to his mouth that instantly shut him up.

"Go back to sleep!!!!" she yelled at his unconscious form.

OOOOO

"Hi," Li said simply as he stared at Sakura laying at his feet. Sakura rolled to the side as he attacked with a stab, and thrust out her hands. Li easily avoid the blast, and swung his sword, nicking Sakura on her stomach. Sakura stared at her hand and remembered the new attack she found out about while in the bushes. She let out a smile as she thought of a way to end this lesson. Li quickly charged towards her, and the young girl pulled back her left hand as if ready to fire a blast. Seeing this, Li easily moved to the side and kept charging, but he was caught off guard when he saw Sakura thrust down her right hand, blasting herself upwards, and into a flip over him. As she passed, Sakura gathered power in her left hand, and felt the air swirl around her hand. She landed easily and charged towards Li.

The swordsman spun around and saw Sakura rush towards him with something forming in her left hand, a pink ball of swirling air. Li spun himself into a horizontal slash towards her neck, but Sakura quickly ducked and thrust the pink ball towards his stomach. But before it could hit him, a scream pierced through the air, making the both of them freeze where they were.

"HELPPPPPPPP!!!!! SOMEONE HELP!!!!!" The two straightened out and saw a woman run through the bushes, a panicked expression all over her face, and sweat on her brow from possible hard running. Sakura ran over to the woman when she collapsed to her knees.

"What's wrong ma'am. What happened?"

"Please help...bandits... the children...help them..." The woman, unable to say anymore, lost consciousness. Sakura gently set her down, and looked to Li.

"We have to help them, please Li." The swordsman looked at her pleading eyes, and looked away with a huff.

"Fine," he muttered. "Think of this as your final lesson." Sakura smiled at him.

"Thank you."

"Sakura-chan!" they heard.

"What's going on?" At that moment Eriol, Tomoyo, Kero, and Meilin came out from the bushes with questioned looks on their faces.

"What's happening? I heard a scream," Kero asked, his eyes falling on the unconscious woman.

"Trouble," Li replied simply.

OOOOO

The group ran to the edge of the forest and saw a field filled with dirty, and fierce looking bandits crowding around a small group of people. Sakura made fist at the feeling of deja vu that was forming in the pit of her stomach. They saw a tall man with a sword as tall his was walk to the group of people and grabbed the women, a sick on his face. Sakura gritted her teeth and turned to Kero.

"Kero-chan! We have to hurry!" The beast nodded and quickly transformed. Sakura got on him in seconds, with Tomoyo behind her. "Tomoyo-chan?"

"Please let me you Sakura-chan."

"But it's dangerous!" she warned her best friend. "They could hurt you!" Tomoyo just smiled.

"I don't think so."

"But..."

"Let her go with you Sakura-san," Eriol urged. "Trust me." Sakura nodded, and signaled Kero to go, and in seconds he flew down the hill towards the field. Meilin let out a bored groan as she watched them go.

"Remind me again, why aren't going? We can take these guys in seconds."

"Don't you want to see the effects of our training on them?" Eriol asked. "Like a mother bird, a good teacher sometimes has to push their student out of the safety of training into a real situation for them to learn to use their new wings."

"Yeah," Li agreed. "I'd like to see how much she's learned myself." Meilin let out a scoff.

"Fine have it your way."

"Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said to the dark haired girl as Kero flew towards the field. "Promise me that you'll stay out of danger."

"Of course I will," she replied with a smile, then looked at Kero. "My Kero-chan, have you gotten faster?"

"Yeah, you are flying faster than normal," Sakura realized. Kero let out a smug laugh.

"Of course I am. I'm the invincible Keroberos after all!" When they reached the field one of the bandits quickly took notice of them.

"Leave those people alone!" Sakura demanded, the bandit just laughed as he drew his sword.

"Hey guys! Check out the new meat!" The other bandits turned and looked at Sakura and Tomoyo with crazed eyes.

"Aren't they cute!"

"What should we do with them?"

"I say have our way then cut them!"

"Or take them back for the others to enjoy too!"

"What do you say boss!" The tall man looked at the two girls and smirked.

"Let's take them with us!"

"You heard him! Let's go!!!" With that the bandits charged towards the two girls and beast, but no fear crossed their eyes. Sakura held out her hand, while Tomoyo reached into her pockets.

"Release!" The pink staff formed, and Sakura blew away a large portion of the men with one swing.

"Amazing Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said in awe.

"Man! When did you learn to do that?" Kero asked. Sakura just smiled.

"A few days ago." The praise was cut short when Sakura saw them get up and charge in again. Sakura swung her staff, blowing away some, but a couple managed to get close enough to attack her. Sakura spun on the balls of her feet to avoid a downward slash, and easily ducked under a swing to her neck. Four more came from behind her, but she easily flipped over them, and blew them into the first two with a simple swing of her staff. A spear thrust towards her the second she landed but, the young girl dodged with almost no effort, and blew him into the approaching others with a wind blast.

Sakura was amazed at how easily she was dodging their attacks. Before she probably would have panicked and had a couple of cuts by now, but she was completely fine. But the speed of their attacks were in slow motion compared to Li's. When she blew away another set of bandits, her eyes widened when she saw five coming towards Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo-chan!" she called and ran as fast as she could towards her best friend, but there was no fear in Tomoyo's eyes, confusing Sakura. Suddenly, Tomoyo threw five kunai at the incoming bandits. The knives cut into their hands, making them drop their weapons and try to pull out the weapon, but they were in too deep.

"You bitch!!" one cried picking up his weapon with his other hand. "I'll kill you!!!!" The other followed suit and rushed towards Tomoyo. The girl reached into her pocket again, and pulled out a golden cat bell. She pointed it at the incoming bandits and smiled brightly.

"Sorry." At that moment a thread flew out of the bell, and twisted and turned around the vermin. Tomoyo pulled back on the bell, and the bandits froze, their faces twisted in pain. They were all tied up by a sliver thread that was cutting into their skin. "Please try not to move, if you do the more the thread will cut into you."

"Amazing Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed. Tomoyo turned to face her friend and saw three bandits coming towards Sakura, their weapons over their heads. Tomoyo quickly threw three kunai that cut into their hands, dropping their weapons. Sakura whirled around and blew them away.

"Guys! Watch out!" Kero yelled. The girl turned around and saw the entire horde charging at them. They looked at each other and smiled brightly.

"Ready?" Sakura asked.

"Of course," Tomoyo replied. Sakura pulled back her staff while Tomoyo pointed the gold cat bell, and sliver cat bell at them.

"GO!!!!" Threads shot from both bells tying up the incoming bandits before they even knew it. Seeing their sudden halt of movement, Sakura swung her staff like a bat, and blew them all away with almost no effort.

"So, you aren't ordinary girls I see," the leader growled as he drew his tall sword. "Then I won't go easy on you!" Tomoyo smiled at Sakura as she watched the leader.

"Sakura-chan do you want to do the honors?" she asked as if nothing was happening.

"Sure!" With that Sakura held up her left hand, and gathered some of her power. The air swirled into a pink ball that fit into her hand, and the emerald-eyed girl rushed towards the leader. She easily dodged his massive sword, and thrust the ball into his stomach, pushing it completely in, and for a few moments everything was still. Tomoyo and Kero held their breath thinking the attack did less than they thought. Sakura froze believing that at any moment the leader would thrust his sword through her. But she was proved wrong when the leader started to slowly spin like a wheel, faster, and faster, an faster until he was blur. The tall man let out a loud cry as he was launched from the ground, and became just a small dot in the horizon.

"No way!" Meilin exclaimed in disbelief. "They did that! Those two? What the hell did you guys do to them?!" Li scoffed, while Eriol just chuckled.

"Nothing," they said in unison.

"Nothing my ass! What did you guys do! Did you replace their bodies or something? No way they could have done all that!" Li and Eriol ignored her as they saw Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero come up to them.

"You were amazing Tomoyo-san!" Eriol praised. "You've mastered the threads faster than I thought!"

"I wouldn't exactly say I mastered it," Tomoyo replied. "But I did do better than I expected."

"With practice you could be great!" Sakura looked carefully at Li who had his eyes closed.

"Li?" The swordsman opened his eyes, and gave an approving nod.

"You aren't dead or covered in cuts, so I guess you've learned something." Sakura smiled brightly at his way of complimenting her.

"Thank you." Li quickly looked away.

"You still have a long ways to go you know." Sakura kept her smile.

"I know, but at least I made it this far right?" Meilin glared at the beast and stomped towards him.

"You stupid beast! Why couldn't you learn cool stuff like that!"

"The advancement of the student reflects the teacher!" Kero shot back. "You just sucked as a teacher!"

"Bullshit and you know it!"

"Yeah right! The only thing I learned from you is how to take a kick to the freakin face!"

"HA! So you did learn something worthwhile from me!"

"How is that worthwhile!"

"That's everything in a fight!"

"Don't give me that! Why couldn't you teach me a new attack like Sakura? Oh that's right, you don't have any magical abilities at all!"

"Shut up you piece of shit!"

"You shut up you worthless teacher!"

"Bath Sponge!"

"Brat!"

"It seems like Kero-chan learned something after all," Tomoyo whispered to Sakura.

"What's that?" she asked.

"How to push Meilin-chan's buttons," Eriol answered for Tomoyo .

"Not sure if that's a skill you'd want to know," Li said.

"I see your point," Sakura replied when she they Meilin floor Kero with a kick.

"Is he okay? He isn't moving," Tomoyo realized. Li just scoffed .

"Told you that wasn't a skill that you'd want to know."

AN: (BIG sigh). Finally! After a long and hard battle with Writer's Block, little to no motivation, and having to retype everything when the chapter got deleted, I finally finished it!!! And yeah I know Sakura's attack is just like Naruto's Rasengan, I know, I know. I couldn't think of anything else, but trust me as the story goes on I'll add my own spin on the attack, but for now just put up with the obvious copyright infringement. (Although this entire story is copyright infringement.) I think I might have rushed the ending fight , but I wasn't sure what else to put. And just FYI, Sakura and Tomoyo will continue to be trained, just off screen, I don't really want to devote an entire arc just for training it seems to put every thing else on hold. So in later chapters if I ever let them bust out some crazy move that would be impossible for them last chapter, that is the reason. Speaking of training, I'm glad this arc is over, there's one arc I really want to get to, since its important to the story . If everything goes right, that arc will be after the one that is coming up right now. So anyway, on with the preview for next chapter!

_Tomoyo: For now our training is complete_

_Kero: Thank god! I'm not sure if I could take getting my ass kick ed for another chapter! _

_Sakura: To celebrate the completion of our training, Eriol-kun takes us into town to see a show. There's an illusionist in town who says he can simulate anything. Sounds like fun! _

_Tomoyo: But why does he know so much about Eriol-kun, Li, and Meilin-chan? And what's with that twisted smile of his? _

_Sakura: Uh-oh, this doesn't sound like fun at all! _

_Tomoyo: So join us next time for "Mindfreak" Next Seven Deadly Jewels. See you soon! _


	63. Mindfreak

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 63

Disclaimer: I don't own the term Mindfreak. It belongs to Criss Angel, the one and only man alive who can give it justice. And if you don't know who Criss Angel is, look him up on YouTube or Google, then you'll see why he and only he is deserving of the name, Mindfreak!

Sakura let out a sigh as the group trudged along the road. It was hot, almost unbearably so. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun was in the center of the sky, beating down fiercely upon the group. The air was dry, and still, which was good seeing as if there was wind it would have made the walk even worse. Sakura felt her throat swell up on a few occasions; she even believed that all the moisture in her mouth had turned dust. Sweat poured from her brow, and her sleeve was all but covered in it from her constant wiping. She turned to her companions to see if they were fairing any better.

Tomoyo seemed to be taking the heat in strides. She had put up her hair in a high ponytail, and rolled up sleeves. If it weren't for the large amount of sweat coming from her forehead, Sakura would not have known that Tomoyo was as hot as she was. Eriol seemed to be the same as Tomoyo, but for some reason no matter how hard she looked, Sakura could not see a bead of sweat on Eriol's brow. Sakura couldn't help but wonder how he was doing it, but then her mind figured that it was some spell or technique. She then made a mental vow to learn whatever spell Eriol was using.

Sakura didn't need to guess that Meilin and Kero were hot.

"Damn it's hot!" the ruby-eyed fighter exclaimed as she wiped her brow with her long sleeve. "Shit Eriol what the hell is this a frggin' death march!"

"My fur isn't helping either," Kero groaned as he tried fanning himself with his wings. By his grunts, and constant shifting speed of his wings, Sakura could tell it wasn't helping at all. "Damn it!" he finally yelled in frustration. "Where the hell are going in this heat!"

"It's a surprise," Eriol replied cheerfully. "It won't be too long now."

"You said that four miles ago," Li pointed out, his brow glistening as well. But despite the heat he still kept his heavy green robes on, Sakura wanted to ask, but caught the question in her throat before it escaped her mouth.

"Really?" Eriol replied as he turned his eyes upwards to think, then let out a chuckle. "Guess you're right." Both Meilin and Li let out a growl at the doctor who just laughed it off.

"Come on!" Kero groaned. "Can't we at least sit in the shade for a little while?"

"Why the hell are you complaining!" Meilin yelled. "You've been sitting in Daidouji's pocket this whole time! How the hell are you hot!"

"You try having a body covered with fur in this heat!" Kero shot back. The two glared at each other for a minute before letting out exhausted sighs, and turning away.

"That was a lot shorter than I thought," Sakura said. She hid behind Tomoyo in case the two became violent as usual.

"The heat must be taking away their energy to argue," Tomoyo figured.

"If we keep walking like this, our energy won't be the only thing we lose," Li muttered. "Eriol where the hell are we going?"

"It's a surprise," the doctor replied, earning a punch to the head from Li.

"Don't give me that crap moron….!" Before the swordsman could completely yell at the doctor, Eriol silenced him with a hand motion and looked over to some bushes. He pushed the foliage away and let out a big satisfied smile.

"We're here!" he announced. The rest of the group rushed to the bushes to see what Eriol saw, and Meilin, and Kero let out disappointed groans, Li just glared at Eriol, and Tomoyo and Sakura titled their head in confusion. Before them was a simple middle sized town. The houses looked like small brown squares that bunched together to make even larger squares. There were a few spaces for small shops, and in the center of town was a large red and white tent that took up most of the town center, but it was nothing too unusual.

"You made us trudge this long in this heat just to get to some stupid town!!!!" Meilin yelled.

"Now, now I know what you're thinking," Eriol chuckled nervously, but trust me you'll see why once we get down there."

"We'd better for your sake," the ruby haired girl growled.

Within a few moments the group entered the town. As they had suspected it was a very average town with average people. The group once again questioned Eriol's reasons for brining them here. Eriol waved off their questioning stares and led them to the large tent in the town's center, where most of the townspeople seemed to be gathering.

"There's the reason we're here!" the doctor declared as he pointed to the sign hanging over the tent.

_See the amazing illusionist The Mindfreak: You will question your reality_ it read.

"Mindfreak?" Li repeated, then glared at Eriol. "You dragged us here for a stupid magic show?"

"Well I thought it was good way to celebrate, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero's completion of their training. They've only been exposed to magic that hurts people, so I figured why not show them that magic can be fun too?"

"I've never been to magic show before, but I've heard that they're really fun, right Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura said as she tried to peek inside the tent. "Let's go find some seats before it gets filled!"

"What the hell, at least it'll be cool in there," Meilin shrugged as she followed Tomoyo and Sakura inside with Kero flying behind her.

"And maybe there's free food!" the beast said hopefully.

"Coming Syaoran?" Eriol asked as he held the flap open. Before Li entered, a cold chill passed through his body, it was as if suddenly the air had gotten ice cold. For a few seconds he even believed that he saw his breath. There was something inside, something that wasn't good. The swordsman brought a hand to his hilt and did a quick scan of the area, but there was nothing around that suggested a threat.

"Syaoran, what is it?" Eriol asked his friend, snapping him out of his alerted state. Thinking it only as his imagination Li just shook his head and muttered a quick 'nothing' before entering the tent. It didn't seem as if Eriol sensed anything, and Sakura seemed fine going inside as well, so it was probably just him. But even when he fell out of his alerted state, he just couldn't shake off the feeling of the temperature dropping greatly as he entered the tent.

When Sakura first entered the tent, she was in awe. From outside the show tent looked as if it could only fit a small amount of people. She imagined that the benches for the townspeople would take up most of the space in the tent, and the actual show floor was only a space big enough for a few magic tricks.

She was proven did wrong when she saw the interior. The tent was actually as large as a coliseum, and was built like one as well. There were countless rows of seats that started from the barrier that separated the audience from the stage, all the way up to near the roof of the tent. The rows surrounded a fairly large circular stage with light from outside shining through from a hole in the center of the roof, which provided the only light. Sakura could barely see Tomoyo next to her, or Kero on her shoulder. She was glad that she could sense that the others were around her; otherwise she would have been scared to death.

"How do you think they managed to fit all this inside such a little tent?" Sakura asked in awe.

"It must be part of the show," Tomoyo replied. "The sign did state that we would question reality."

"This is nothing," a man whispered to the girls excitedly. "Just wait until you see the actual show."

"Oh, you've been here before?" Tomoyo asked, the man chuckled.

"Are you crazy? This is my tenth time here! This man is amazing!"

"What kind of magic does he do?" Sakura asked, already anxious and excited for the show to start.

"If I tell you, it will ruin the entire show! Just watch, you won't be able to believe it."

The chatter of the audience began to fade to silence when a cold mist entered the tent. The temperature seemed to go from boiling to freezing as the mist began to overtake the entire stage.

"Are you ready?" a soft voice whispered quickly. At that moment the mist became smoke and a dark figure began to take shape within the substance. When the smoke cleared it revealed a man with long black hair, and black eyes. He wore robes as black as night with gloves that matched. He stepped out from the smoke and faced the crowd with a smile.

"Mindfreak!!!!!" the crowd exclaimed when they saw him. The man chuckled, and raised his hands to quiet the audience.

"Thank you all for coming. I hope you're all ready to be amazed, mystified, and possibly freaked," he said in loud low voice. The magician signaled for of his assistants to come over to him. The minion placed a long bed of sharp needles before him, and tested it by dropping a small leaf on it. The leaf was sliced to pieces.

"What you see before me is twenty feet of needles. You have all heard of laying on a bed of needles, but I am going to walk on them!" he declared.

"No way," Li muttered.

"Yeah those needles are way to sharp," Meilin agreed. The magician took several deep breaths before taking a step towards the road of needles. The audience held its breath as he raised his left foot and placed it inches away from the needles. He took five more deep breaths before allowing his foot to drop. Several people instantly looked away expecting him to cry out in pain, but when there was silence, they quickly looked back to the stage. They saw the magician walking on the needles as if he was still on the ground.

"Amazing!" Sakura exclaimed. Kero nearly choked on the fish he was eating. The magician then crouched down, and walked the rest of the way on his hands. The crowd filled the tent with their cheers and gasps of amazement.

For his next trick the black haired magician clapped his hands together, and from the ground raised a large thick stonewall. He called a man over from the audience to confirm that the wall was real, and was indeed ten inches thick. The magician walked up to the wall, and took a series of deep breaths. After his fifth breath he kept walking towards the wall until he completely walked straight through it! Screams of amazement filled the tent once more.

An hour had passed since the show started, and Sakura wasn't sure if she had any breath left. The magician known as the Mindfreak had done things in that hour that so far she'd only seen demons, ghosts, and insane killers do. Within the hour he had levitated to the top of the tent, melted into the ground, disappeared in a blaze of fire, walked up a wall and down again, and sliced himself in half, then pulled himself back together. She was all but mystified.

"And now for the finale!" he announced, causing a groan of disappointment from the audience. The Mindfreak went up to the crowd, and pulled a woman to the stage.

"What's your name madam?" he asked politely. She told him. "And we've never met before right?"

"Yes."

"We've never met before, and yet I know that last year you lost your son to the war right?" the woman gasped, and covered her mouth in shock. "What would you say if I said that I can give you the chance to see him again."

"Y-y-y-y-you c-c-c-can do that?" she said in between her rapid shallow breaths. The magician smirked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course. It won't be for long though so savor the moment." The black-clad magician placed his hand over her face, muttering soothing words to the woman, making her relax. "Take deep breaths, in and out. Listen only to my voice."

"What the heck is he doing?" Meilin wondered.

"Hypnotism," Eriol replied. "I guess the only way to allow her to see her son is to hypnotize her. What do you think Li?" The swordsman just grunted. Honestly he hadn't been paying attention to the show at all. What this guy was doing was no big deal to him. He had seen fighters do what he does on a much larger scale many times. He was glad that the show was almost over, he wasn't sure how much of this he could take.

"Now when you open your eyes," the magician whispered to her. "You will see the image of your son before you." At that moment, Li felt a spike of dark energy in the tent. His eyes, which were half closed out of boredom, shot fully open as he looked around. His eyes fell to the magician, who pulled his hand away from the woman, allowing her to open her eyes, an act that she would soon regret.

Before her stood the twisted, mangled, sliced, half-skeleton body of her son.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-mama," the body wheezed. The woman let out an ear-piercing scream. The zombie-like body of her son limped closer, and closer to her, only making her screams louder.

"St-st-stay back!!!!!" she screamed.

"Mama!" the body moaned.

"Stay back!!!"

"Mama!!!!!"

"STAY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!" The audience seemed baffled, and confused at what was occurring in the stage. To their eyes the woman seemed to be screaming at nothing, but Li could tell something wasn't right. He looked over to Eriol and Sakura who seemed to picking up the same feeling as he did. Meilin and Tomoyo looked alerted as well.

"What the hell is going on?" Meilin whispered.

"I'm not sure," Eriol replied. "But at this rate something bad is going to happen!" With that Eriol leapt from the seats with Li, and Meilin following not far behind.

"Let's go Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura said, and followed after her friends. Tomoyo pulled Kero away from his snack and jumped to the stage as well. While in mid-air, Eriol clapped his hands together and pointed to where the woman was screaming.

"Be gone!" he exclaimed. The dark aura near the woman dispensed, and she fainted. The black magician raised an eyebrow at the group who interrupted his performance, but once he saw them clearly, a twisted smile crossed his lips.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked pretending to be shocked.

"This show is over," Eriol declared as Li pointed his sword at the twisted magician. The Mindfreak looked at the group before raising his hands in the air.

"Under what circumstances?" he asked innocently.

"Tomoyo-san, how is the woman?" the doctor asked ignoring the magician.

"She's a little shaken, but I believe she will be all right," Tomoyo replied as she and Sakura carefully placed the spooked woman on the ground.

"How could you torture that poor woman like that!" Eriol demanded. "That was no showman magic that was dark magic, a kind of magic a simple showman like you shouldn't know." Mindfreak shrugged.

"I like to think of it as misunderstood magic."

"Regardless, what you did was wrong. Once she wakes up apologize," Eriol ordered.

"Eriol-kun," Sakura whispered. "Can we take this outside?" The young girl pointed to the crowd that was starting to get rowdy. Already they were pelting their snacks, and other objects at the group while filling the airs with boos.

"Leave him alone you stupid kids!"

"Dumb kids! Get out the way!"

"Get on with the show!"

"Don't worry," Mindfreak said with a dark smirk. "The crowd is of no concern to you. In fact the real crowd has just shown up." This quickly alerted the group.

"What do you mean by that?" Li muttered, pointing his sword closer to his throat. Mindfreak just laughed with a dark voice as he put down his hands.

"I think it's time that I start the real show!" He snapped his fingers, and for a moment everything was still. Li raised an eyebrow wondering if the man had done anything at all, but those doubts were put to rest when Sakura called out to him.

"Uh….Li…! Eriol-kun!" The two whirled around and saw the woman on the ground began dissolving until she completely disappeared.

"What-the!" Eriol exclaimed.

"It's not just the woman!" Meilin pointed out. "Look!" The tent, and everything else around them, including the booing crowd began to dissolve like there was a large eraser passing over everything. Once the tent disappeared, the entire town began to dissolve, including the people. Everything from the buildings to the ground disappeared only leaving the forest around them.

"What the hell!" Li remarked. Mindfreak let out another dark laugh before he snapped his fingers again, making himself dissolve this time. The long dark-haired man before them vanished only leaving a new entity. He wore a dark suit that covered his entire body, including his face. White spirals wrapped around the arm and leg areas of the suit, and stopped near his midsection. The gloves had sharp spikes that ran up his arms and stopped at his elbows, and at the center of both his gloves was an eye, a moving eye with veins coming up to the pupil. He was a creature of pure darkness.

"Finally," he said darkly. "I was getting tired of that form anyway."

"Who the hell are you?" Li asked, already in a stance. The man just laughed.

"Didn't you read the sigh when you came in? I am The Mindfreak!" Li gritted his teeth, and thrust towards the twisted magician who quickly jumped into a tree. The black-suited illusionist was about to attack when he placed his hand over his eyes to block the sun.

"Stupid sun," he growled. "I think a little change of scenery is in order." He snapped his fingers again. A black mist started to creep into the forest like a snake. Eriol's eyes widened at the smoke, and quickly covered his nose and mouth.

"Stay away from that stuff it's a poisonous miasma!" The illusionist chuckled as his miasma began to overtake the forest.

"Very good Hiiragizawa. Did Elena teach you that?" Eriol's eyes widened, and he almost dropped the arm covering his nose and mouth.

"H-H-How do you know that name?" he whispered in shock. Mindfreak just shrugged as he snapped his fingers again, making the miasma explode into the air, completely over taking the area.

"I think you have bigger things to worry about," he chuckled as the black smoke blew around in every direction, making a typhoon.

"Whatever you do, don't breathe this stuff in!" Eriol shouted over the wind.

"Easier said than done!" Meilin yelled back.

"Sakura! Can't you do anything about this! Blow it back!" Kero yelled, struggling to keep his grip on her shoulder.

"It's too strong!" she replied with a yell. "Even if I tried my hardest, I wouldn't even be able to shift it!"

"Damn it!" Li growled as he impaled the ground with his sword, and pulled out one of his talismans. "Element Wind!" A clear shield formed around the group protecting them from the blowing miasma. Mindfreak smirked under his mask.

"Thank you Li," Tomoyo said with a sigh of relief.

"Don't thank me yet," he replied. "This won't hold long. Eriol, don't just stand there, help me!" The doctor seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in, and nodded.

"Right." He raised his hands at the shield, and made it bigger, and thicker. "That should protect us for about ten minutes."

"Not bad," Mindfreak said from the trees. "But what will you do about that?" He pointed in the sky at a large black cloud of miasma that blocked out the sun.

"Oh shit…!" Meilin muttered. Mindfreak chuckled, and snapped his fingers. The cloud dropped like a waterfall over the forest engulfing everything into darkness.

OOOOO

When Sakura opened her eyes, she thought they were still closed for a moment. Everything was dark, dead and silent. The trees were gray, and stripped of everything, their leaves, and their bark, even some of their roots. All the trees Sakura saw were dead, she even saw one completely snap in half like a twig. The young girl turned her head and saw a lake, or what was left of one. It was nothing more than a large dried up hole in the ground. Sakura wouldn't have known it was once a lake if not for the dead or dying fish still flopping on their sides.

She looked up and saw the sky had turned a darkish purple, completely blocking out the sun. She saw clouds turn black, and fall to the ground, creating more miasma. Sakura looked around trying to find the others, but she couldn't see them. She took a deep breath to try and sense them, but she instantly regretted her decision.

The moment she took a breath, it felt as if her lungs were on fire, and were burning her entire insides. Her throat all but shriveled up, and closed together, making her cough dryly without control. She tried to stop her herself, but it was as if her body was acting on its own, it seemed like all she could do was cough. She gripped the ground in pain as the fire inside her body seemed to be coming up through her throat. Her mouth stopped cough just long enough for her to vomit out the depths of her insides. But as soon as that spasm ended, her long round of coughing began again. She started to think she would die like this when a soothing feeling reached her back. The fire inside her slowly died, her lungs cooled down, and her throat reopened. She felt a pair of hands lift her head, and place a mask over her nose mouth. She took deep breaths in the mask before looking up.

"E-Eriol-kun," she said with relief.

"Thank goodness I found you," he said with a similar mask over his face. "The others were worried about you."

"W-What happened?" she asked in a daze, her body still not fully recovered.

"That guy's miasma completely destroyed the forest, and turned it into nothing but a huge forest of death," the doctor explained. "As you've found out, you can't even breathe in the air, it's filled with the poisonous miasma."

"Wh-Why don't we just leave?"

"We have no idea just how far this stretches, and besides, we can't leave this stuff here, if it spreads it could annihilate this entire region."

"I see," Sakura said softly and slowly lost consciousness.

OOOOO

Sakura opened her eyes once more, and saw that she was in Eriol's arms as he carried her over to a cave. She saw Tomoyo, and Kero sitting in front of a small makeshift fire, and Li sitting near the entrance with his sword ready for anything. They were all wearing masks similar to hers and Eriol's.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed with relief. "Thank goodness, I was so worried!"

"I'm all right," Sakura replied weakly.

"She's breathed in the miasma," Eriol explained. He gave Tomoyo a reassuring look when he saw the worry on her face. "She'll be all right in a few hours. The important thing is to let her lie down and get some water."

"If you can find any water in this barren wasteland," Li said with a scoff.

"W-where's Meilin?" Sakura asked.

"We haven't been able to find her," Li replied with a frustrated growl. "And we can't sense her! This damn miasma is blocking our abilities!"

"And because of that, we can't tell where Mindfreak is either. And to make matters worse…. It's a full moon tonight," Eriol reported solemnly

"Damn it! What time for the brat to go missing!" Kero yelled. Li gritted his teeth and stood up.

"We have a few hours left before the sun sets, we have to find her within that time."

"Right," the doctor agreed, and set Sakura down. "Tomoyo, Kero, watch over Sakura. And please give us some kind of signal if Meilin comes here."

"All right, but please hurry," Tomoyo replied. The two nodded before running into the bushes.

"Well look on the bright side," Eriol said with a smile under his mask. "It can't get any worse."

"You're wrong," Li muttered. "It probably can."

OOOOO

Meilin woke up with a groan. Her head felt like it was on the verge of being split open. Her body felt heavy, and her legs didn't seem to be able to support her. She checked her surroundings to see where she was. From the tall dead grass and dead trees around her, Meilin could tell she was in a dead field clearing of the forest. Knowing she wouldn't find her friends just laying there, Meilin took a deep breath to gather her strength.

The air was fine, and surprisingly soothing. The miasma must not have reached this far she figured. Not sure which way to go she made several turns before deciding on going east. But she instantly regretted that decision when she looked up in the dead tree.

"Hey there, Li Meilin," Mindfreak said with a dark chuckle.

AN: A relatively fast update, mostly because I've had this chapter and idea in my head for the longest time. Not exactly what I promised in the previews, but as I was writing up this chapter, what I promised in the preview seemed to fit in better in the next chapter. During the coarse of writing the whole illusion revelation scene, I was listening to Naraku's theme music, it seemed to fit perfectly. And once I thought of Naraku, I thought of miasma, so I put it in, and it fit. Originally this going to be a two-part thing, but I think it might become three, I'm not sure, so I'll just see what happens when writing the next chapter. I'm going to try and make sure it stays a two-part arc since chapters 65-67 are reserved. Anyway, my summer vacation is coming up, and guess what that means…..more time to update!!! Yay!!! But I still have the whole final exam hurdle to get over. (So not looking forward to my Math and Physics final. --). But once those are over I'll be done, and have a crap load of free time to write. Anyway, here's the preview for the next chapter! See ya!

_Tomoyo: Next time, Meilin's fight with Mindfreak leaves some "lasting impressions." _

_Sakura: What do you mean by that? Huh…Hoeeeee!!!!! Why's Li attacking Eriol?! _

_Tomoyo: Kero-chan what's wrong? Why do you look so afraid? _

_Sakura: Tomoyo-chan, look over there is that….! Impossible! _

_Tomoyo: Sakura-chan, wait! Oh no, how can we fight this Mindfreak person when we can't tell what's real and what's not?_

_Sakura: So join us next time for "Endless Night of Fear!" See you then! _


	64. Endless Night of Fear

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 64

"Hey there, Li Meilin," Mindfreak said with a dark chuckle. Meilin felt her body freeze for a moment, and her heart skip a beat. The poisoned filled air around her froze, and everything seemed still for a few agonizing seconds. Mindfreak sat leisurely on the tree branch with his hand on his cheek, and his other hand waving as if he was greeting a friend. Meilin gritted her teeth, her anger overpowering her initial surprise, and shock. The bastard was mocking her! Playing off her caution, and uncertainty about being separated from the others in the miasma filled forest. She'd make this bastard pay underestimating her.

"So you decide to show yourself!" she exclaimed, already shifting in a fighting stance. "Your less of a coward than I thought." Mindfreak chuckled.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I don't care what you take it as! Just come down here so I can kick your worthless ass!" Meilin yelled.

"But doesn't that give me more of an incentive to stay in this tree?" Meilin just scoffed, and dashed towards the tree.

"Whether you come down, or I kick you down, I'm still going to kick your ass!" The ruby-eyed girl jumped towards the illusionist, and swung out a kick towards his face. Mindfreak bent his body into a swing under the branch and Meilin's kick. Meilin quickly flipped in order to land on the branch, only to have Mindfreak swing back up, and double kick her out of the tree. Meilin did a quick shoulder roll to regain her balance, and was back on her feet instantly.

"Bastard!" she growled and whirled around to face her opponent only to have a black gloved fist slam into her face. Meilin stumbled back, and gritted her teeth for not seeing it coming. Another punch collided with her cheek, and then another until Mindfreak had her trapped in his barrage of punches. A final punch to her face brought Meilin to the flat of her back.

"How pathetic Meilin," Mindfreak. "Your mother would be so disappointed with you." Meilin's eyes snapped open with fury, and were on her feet in seconds.

"What did you just say?" she growled dangerously.

"How would she feel knowing that she died for nothing? Her daughter is still a weak pathetic fool. And I'm sure your friends think the same way." With those words, Meilin snapped.

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed with all her might as she charged headfirst. Mindfreak was taken aback by her sudden burst of speed, but attacked regardless with a fast jab. Meilin easily sidestepped the attack, and slammed her kick into the black-clad magician's ribs, instantly breaking all on that side. As Mindfreak reeled back in pain, the enraged girl grabbed him by the shoulders, and pulled him into countless knee blows to his stomach, chest, and face. After five minutes of that, Meilin delivered a blow to his chin, and released him. The magician could barely stand, and his knees couldn't hold out anymore. Meilin took the opportunity to land a hard elbow blow to his skull before slamming a kick in the dead center of his chest, sending him flying back twenty feet.

"WHO'S WEAK NOW YOU FUCKING MORON!!!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. When there was no reply the ruby eyed girl took several deep breaths to calm herself, and to regain her sensible side.

"Were you yelling that to me, or your father?" the twisted magician whispered behind her, making Meilin freeze. "I mean, anyone who truly knows you, would know that the front you put up is just a cry for attention from a weak pathetic girl, for her daddy." Meilin's anger once again rose, and she whirled around into a sharp roundhouse kick, but her foot hit nothing but air.

"And just what the hell do you know about me!" she yelled at the trees. A dark chuckle was his reply, making Meilin's heartbeat increase.

"Everything," he muttered from the trees. "From your life with the clan, to your life now. But no matter what you're still the same. A scared lonely girl crying out for attention and love that will never come."

"Shut UP! That's not true!" she cried while her hands curled up into tight fists.

"It's been two years now Meilin! If he wanted you back he would have sent for you!"

"You don't know anything!" she yelled the corners of her eyes beginning to moisten.

"You're still that weak pathetic girl in his eyes!" Meilin dashed towards the first tree she saw, and kicked it down hoping the freak was hiding there, but no luck.

"Come out you damn coward!!"

"Unfortunately, I am no martial artist. If I showed myself to you, you would, as you say, kick my ass." Meilin just smirked.

"So you admit that you're the weak one here!"

"But even so, I know your father would welcome me into your clan, and still leave you for dead!" The fury in Meilin's eyes returned even stronger than before. The girl ran into the brush, and kicked down every single tree she saw, often creating a domino effect, but no matter how many she kicked down, none of them held the Mindfreak.

"Come out damn it!" she screamed in frustration. "I'm tired of these games!"

"Yes, so I'm I," Mindfreak replied with a chuckle. "Perhaps it's time I show you one of my best tricks." With that the dark magician jumped down from a tree that was only a few feet to Meilin's left.

"Finally!" the ruby-eyed girl exclaimed. "Now I can make you pay for everything you said tenfold!"

"Well then, by all means, come at me."

"With pleasure!" With that Meilin ran as fast as she could towards her opponent, her eyes filled with rage, and fury. Her vision was fixed on the dark magician, and she refused to see anything else until after she slaughtered him.

Mindfreak smirked under his mask as he dodged Meilin's first sidekick. The girl quickly pivoted into a roundhouse kick that the freak ducked under. The magician slid towards her supporting leg in an effort to knock her down, but Meilin easily saw his intent. With almost no effort, she jumped with her supporting leg, and collided with Mindfreak's face with a strong front kick, sending him flying back.

The ruby-eyed girl flipped over, and quickly shot towards her opponent the moment her feet touched the ground. Mindfreak let out a painful gasp the moment when Meilin's knee slammed into his stomach. He was still for a moment, giving Meilin the chance attack with a powerful 1-2 punch, sidekick combo, which sent him to the ground lifelessly. She scoffed when she saw that he wasn't getting up, and grabbed him by his collar with a smirk.

"Wake up! I'm far from finished with you!" At that moment, the Mindfreak before dissolved into the poisonous miasma. Meilin quickly jumped back, and placed her sleeve over her nose and mouth.

"Oh, but I'm just about finished with you!" The ruby-eyed girl spun around to receive a palm strike in her face. Then everything went dark.

OOOOO

When Meilin opened her eyes it seemed like she was in a void. All around her was nothing but darkness; she could barely see her hand in front of her face. She took a cautious breath to find that the miasma hadn't reached the area yet, a lucky break for her, but she could still feel Mindfreak last attack on her face.

"Bastard," she growled. "He sunk up on me. I'll get him the next time I see him though." At that moment Meilin heard something behind her. She quickly jumped back, and shifted into a stance, ready for whoever was there. When the figure came closer, she instantly relaxed, it was only Li.

"Meilin," he said simply.

"Syaoran!" she sighed happily. "I'm glad it's you. I just saw that Mindfreak bastard. Between the two of us, I'm sure we can take him down!" Meilin tugged on his arm in the direction she last saw their opponent, but Li remained motionless.

"Meilin," he said again.

"What? What is it? Do you sense him? Is he around here?" At that moment, Li raised his hand, and gave Meilin a hard slap to her cheek, knocking her down. Needless to say Meilin was shocked.

"Syaoran...?" she whispered.

"Get out of my sight," he growled and turned away.

"What are you talking about! What did I do?"

"Why would I associate myself with someone as weak and pathetic as you!" Meilin felt the ground beneath her shatter.

"You...don't mean that!"

"Of course I do!" he snapped. "You can't do anything! Not even sense where others are! You absolutely worthless to me!" Meilin felt her eyes moisten, and her throat swell up.

"Stop you don't mean that!" But Li disappeared in the darkness before she could say anymore. When Meilin heard another set of footsteps she saw Eriol behind her.

"Eriol!" she cried frantically. "What's wrong with Syaoran, why is so mad at me?" But she only received a laugh from the doctor. "Eriol...?"

"You're so pathetic Meilin." Meilin's eyes widened, and quickly ran away from him before he could say anymore, but his and Syaoran's voices kept ringing in her ears. She stopped running when she saw Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero.

"Kinomoto! Daidouji!" she called. They turned to face her with smiles on their faces.

"Weakling," they said in unison, making Meilin freeze.

"What?"

"It's so funny to watch you Meilin-chan," Sakura giggled. "You're fooling yourself if you actually believe that you're strong. In reality you're weaker than Tomoyo-chan."

"Shut up!"

"You know that it's true," Tomoyo added. "You can't do anything."

"I said shut up!!" At that moment, Li and Eriol appeared behind her.

"You're father will never welcome you back," Li said.

"That isn't true!" Meilin cried, tears beginning to run down her cheeks.

"You know what I find funny? It's that your mother died hoping you'd get stronger. She must be so ashamed at how you actually turned out," Eriol laughed.

"Stop it!" she exclaimed again. She covered her ears, but their voices were still coming through, either laughing at her, or calling her worthless, or pathetic, it just wouldn't stop. Meilin squeezed her eyes shut, and fell to her knees, crying out for them to stop, but it only made them louder. Finally she let out a loud agonizing scream.

OOOOO

Mindfreak smirked when a loud agonizing scream exploded from Meilin's mouth from under his glove that echoed throughout the forest, making whatever animals were left scurry away in fear. The twisted magician could feel Meilin's mind shatter, and her body beginning to thrash around. The spell had worked faster on her than he thought. Her lack of magical abilities must have made it easier for the spell to work. Either way he could easily declare that Meilin was out of the picture.

"That's one down," he laughed, and tossed her aside like dirt. He heard movement in the brush, and quickly disappeared, he wanted to have more fun before he handled the two that were coming.

OOOOO

When Li and Eriol heard a scream pierce through the forest, they didn't have to guess who it was. They sprinted through the forest, forgetting the fact that Mindfreak could be laying anywhere, and waiting for them. When they reached the clearing they saw Meilin face down on the ground completely still.

"Meilin!" Li exclaimed as he dashed towards her. He shook her several times, but she didn't show any reaction. "Meilin! Meilin!" He turned her over on her back, and saw an expression of pure fear and terror on her face with tears still rolling down her eyes. The swordsman tried again to rouse her, but to no avail. Eriol quickly checked her vital signs, and his eyes instantly became alert.

"This isn't good! Her pulse and heart rates are completely out of control! She won't survive long under this stress!"

"Well try to slow it down!" Eriol placed his hands over Meilin's heart but gritted his teeth in frustration after a few minutes.

"I can't! There's some strange miasma in her system, in both her heart, and her brain. I need to seriously work on her for this. We have to get her back to the cave, and fast!" Li nodded, and picked Meilin bridal style and ran off with Eriol not too far behind.

From the trees Mindfreak let out a smirk.

OOOOO

"What's wrong with Meilin-chan?" Sakura asked worriedly when Li and Eriol returned. The two quickly set Meilin on the ground in the cave, and Eriol instantly began to work on her. He reached into his cloak and pulled out kit filled surgery tools, and a cloth.

"Did you guys find any water?" he asked as he checked Meilin's vital signs again.

"No. There isn't any around here," Sakura replied.

"Should we look for some?" Tomoyo asked.

"No!" The doctor replied quickly. "It's too dangerous! That monster could be anywhere. If he catches you, I'm sure he'll do to you what he did to Meilin!"

"That Mindfreak guy took down the brat!" Kero exclaimed in disbelief. "How!"

"I'm not sure yet," Eriol said as he placed his hands over Meilin's chest. The doctor let out a frustrated growl and reached for his tools. "Damn it! I'll need to operate to get rid of this miasma!"

"It's that bad?" Sakura said. Eriol nodded, and turned to Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo-san, I'll need your help. Everyone else please step out of the cave, this could get bloody." When the others stepped out Eriol placed his hands on the ground, and a rock door covered the entrance of the cave.

"I'm not sure what I'll be able to though," Tomoyo said uncertainly. Eriol smiled at her.

"Just do what I tell you and everything will be fine all right?" Tomoyo returned his smile and nodded. "And while we're at it, would you like me to give you a nurse's outfit? I can give you a really cute one."

Tomoyo couldn't help but giggle at Eriol's ability to joke at a time like this. A pleasant calm air passed between them for half a second before Meilin let out another pain filled scream. The two snapped back to the matter at hand, and Tomoyo let out a gulp as she handed Eriol his scalpel.

"I hope you aren't too squeamish Tomoyo-san, because like I said, this will be bloody."

OOOOO

Sakura paced worriedly in front of the rock door of the cave. It had been close to two hours since Eriol started, and since then she had heard countless painful, agonizing screams from Meilin, it sickened her. With every scream Sakura felt as if she was going to throw up. She turned to Li who hadn't said anything since he and Eriol returned with Meilin. His eyes glancing every now and then to the cave, but for the most part he looked at the miasma filled sky, most likely counting down to the sunset, and when he would lose his powers. Sakura was about to ask why he wasn't worried, but when looked closer she saw his lips were tightened together, and his grip on his sword was so strong that the sword looked like it would break.

"He's the most worried out of all of us," she concluded quietly.

"Damn it Meilin," he muttered softly.

"It'll be all right," Sakura reassured him as she sat next to him. "Meilin-chan is strong isn't she, so I know she won't die from this right?" Li glanced at her for a moment before looking away.

"Yeah," he agreed silently. "But still, that Mindfreak bastard is still out there, and if he did this Meilin, imagine what else he can do." At that moment the stone door dropped revealed an exhausted looking Eriol, and a speechless Tomoyo who dropped to her knees the moment she stepped out.

"How is she?" Sakura asked worriedly as she helped Tomoyo up. Eriol took off his glasses with a deep sigh, his eyes troubled.

"We did everything we could..." he muttered softly. Sakura dropped, her eyes beginning to water.

"No...Meilin-chan!" Li grabbed Eriol by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

"What the hell do you mean by that!" he yelled. "Do you mean that she's...!"

"Good as new? Yes!" the doctor said with a smile. Li and Sakura snapped their heads at the doctor.

"What?" they both said in disbelief.

"It was a long and complicated process but she'll be fine!" Eriol laughed. A vein popped on Li's head, and slammed his fist onto Eriol's head.

"You sick bastard!!" he yelled. "Don't screw with me like that!" Tomoyo had to cover her mouth from laughing too hard.

"Tomoyo-chan that cruel!" Sakura scolded.

"Man, and I thought the kid was sick," Kero muttered.

"But seriously though," Eriol piped up seriously. "She was in a serious state. The miasma had almost spread throughout her entire body, it had already reached her heart when I decided to operate."

"It was that bad?" Li asked. Eriol nodded.

"The miasma was causing a powerful and potent hallucinogenic affect on Meilin's mind. Most likely brought on by trauma or post-traumatic stress, or even possibly subliminal suggestion." He looked up at his audience and saw a big question mark over Sakura's and Kero's head, Li just raised his eyebrow at him.

"The miasma was making Meilin-chan see, hear, and feel things that weren't actually there," Tomoyo translated.

"Why didn't you just say that!" Kero exclaimed at Eriol.

"At any rate, I had to drain the blood from her heart and brain to get rid of it, a very difficult process," the doctor continued.

"You...had...to...cut Meilin head!" Sakura whispered, shaking at the mere thought of it. She looked at Tomoyo, who seemed fine, but she actually had to watch Eriol do it!

"So, she'll be fine right?" Li asked.

"Yes. I just need to do a blood transfusion, but after that she'll recover in a matter of days, but..." Eriol's eyes became dark as if he had just thought of something.

"What is it?" Sakura wondered.

"Think about it," he said. "It took Tomoyo-san and myself thirty minutes just to stabilize Meilin, and we've only now just finished."

"Yeah, that's good right?" Kero asked.

"No you stupid stuffed animal," Li snapped catching onto Eriol's thought . "You don't have that kind of time in battles! If we had found Meilin only a minute later, that Mindfreak bastard could have easily killed her!"

"Or tormented her to the point of insanity with that spell," Eriol added. "I looked inside of her mind...it was...pure torture...!"

"So we can't allow ourselves to be caught in that spell, is that what you're saying?" Sakura asked. Eriol nodded.

"I'm not sure how he did it, but I know that if he pulls that trick during battle it's over."

"So what do we do?" Kero asked. "We can't sense him, and it's only a few minutes before sunset! After that the kid and I will be useless!"

"You maybe," Li muttered under his breath.

"Should we just wait for him?" Sakura suggested. "If he wanted to kill us wouldn't he make his move very soon since Li and Kero-chan are powerless?"

"I don't think so," Eriol replied. "Judging by what I saw in Meilin's mind, this guy doesn't just want to kill us, he wants to destroy our spirits. He wants to make us suffer."

"But why? We haven't done anything to him. What's he after us for?" Sakura wondered.

"Good question," the doctor said, and looked to Li, who just shrugged.

"Let's focus on that question after we make it out of here alive," he said. "Our best bet is to find him ourselves."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Eriol asked with concern. "He could be anywhere."

"That's true, but if we're his targets then I'm sure he's somewhere close by. And the faster we find him, the faster we get answers."

"And hopefully, the faster this miasma clears," Tomoyo added. At that moment Li's eyes narrowed, and his hand instantly went to his sword. Eriol shared the same expression and carefully looked around.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"He's closer than I thought," Li muttered.

"But I thought you couldn't sense anything in this miasma!" Kero exclaimed.

"He must be intentionally increasing his aura enough to break though that effect," Eriol figured. "He's trying to trap us."

"What should we do?" Tomoyo wondered. "If it is a trap, and he uses what he used on Meilin on us, we're finished."

"We have to approach with caution, this could be anything," Eriol warned. Li gritted his teeth as he thought about what Mindfreak did to Meilin. He almost killed her, or worse. And now the bastard was just dangling himself before them, mocking and taunting them for his amusement! He had a lot of nerve. With a growl Li darted off towards the aura, he was going to make him pay for he did to Meilin.

"Li wait!" Sakura called. Eriol let out a groan and ran after his friend.

"Stay here until we get back," he told the girls. "And be on the lookout for anything!" After a few moments, Kero let out a loud groan once he realized what happened.

"Aw man! They left us again! I want to fight this guy too!"

"I hope they'll be okay," Sakura said worriedly.

"For now let's make sure that Meilin-chan is all right," Tomoyo suggested. Sakura nodded, and they went back into the cave.

Unknown to them, from the trees, a strange white light began to form.

OOOOO

Eriol chased after Li, who had a very strong lead ahead. The doctor cursed his friend's strong athletic build, and high endurance as he struggled to keep up. Finally, the swordsman stopped dead in his tracks and was still for a moment.

"Damn it!" he growled. "I lost him!"

"Syaoran it's all right," Eriol reassured. "If Mindfreak is anything like you, I'm sure he'll throw us some more bait. We should return to the others."

"No, don't you get it? I'd rather take care if this moron now while I still have my powers, than wait until I'm powerless," Li replied with a growl. "Besides, I wan to make him pay for he did to Meilin!"

"I want to as well, but rushing off at every sign him isn't going to help," the doctor replied as he put his hand on Li's shoulder. "Come on, let's go back."

"There's one problem with that," Li said quietly.

"What's that?" Eriol asked.

At that moment, Li whirled around and rammed his sword completely through Eriol stomach, making the doctor gasp in shock.

"Only one of us will be going back!"

OOOOO

It been close to an hour since Li and Eriol left, and there was still no sign of their return. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero began to grow worried.

"Do think they ran into him?" Sakura wondered.

"If they did we should have heard the sounds of battle by now," Tomoyo reasoned. "Li, and Eriol-kun aren't exactly silent fighters." Suddenly, Sakura stood up, and formed her staff, her eyes alert.

"What is it Sakura-chan?"

"Something is here," she replied as she ran out of the cave. Sakura looked around, whatever, or whoever she was sensing was powerful. But unlike the dark, empty feeling she had felt with Mindfreak, this was one gentle and light. That fact relaxed the young girl, it was probably nothing, but Eriol said to watch out for anything.

When she turned her head she saw a bright white light descend from the sky. Sakura covered her eyes to avoid being blinded, but squinted to see who was coming. The light came closer, and closer until finally it was about three feet away from the young girl. At that point the light began disappear and a figure started to become visible. When the light completely disappeared, Sakura dropped her hands to see who it was. The moment she laid eyes on the figure her eyes widened the size melons, and she dropped her staff, her face the expression of pure shock and surprise.

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo called from the cave. "Who was it?" Sakura could only mutter one word.

"M-M-Mother…..!"

AN: Once again another pretty fast update. Not as fast as the last one, but still pretty fast by my standards. With this chapter, the "Mindfreak" arc has officially become a three-part arc. I was hesitant at first, but then I thought that he was too good of a villain to be dealt with in only two chapters. It might even get extended to a four-part arc, but I doubt that. The hardest part about this chapter was not revealing too much about Meilin. I had to retype the entire first scene countless time because too much was being said. I think I said enough in the final version. On a side note, I got my final exam grades. Turns out I failed my Algebra exam. (No surprise there) But I got a B on my Physics final, and plus I actually learned some cool stuff during our final class days, stuff that I can use in this story as powers. You'll see them in later chapters. All my other exams I either got a C or aced, not a bad hull in my opinion. Anyway, enough ranting here's the preview for next chapter! See you there!

_Tomoyo: Sakura-chan's mother here? But that's impossible! _

_Kero: Supernatural elements are strengthened during a full moon though _

_Tomoyo: Kero-chan what are these vines wrapping around us and Sakura-chan! _

_Kero: I don't know, and who's that blue-haired chick Li's talking to? And what about Eriol? Aw man! How are we going to get out of this one?! _

_Tomoyo: Join us next time for "Conquering the Mind" See you soon. _


	65. Conquering the Mind

Seven Deadly Jewels Chapter 65 

Sakura could not believe her eyes. She could not believe who was standing just inches away from her. Her mother! She stared at a pair of shining emerald eyes that matched hers perfectly, a smile that made her see why her father always said she had a smile like her mother's. Her long curly gray hair and her pure white dress flowed gently through the poisonous air, making Sakura completely forget about their current situation.

The young girl looked into her mother's eyes, and couldn't help but step closer. Her mouth hung open, but no sounds or speech wished to fly out. Sakura had countless questions for her mother, questions about her mother's life before she married, how Sakura gained her powers, and if she had powers as well. So many questions ran through her mind like the wind, but her throat just would not convert those thoughts into speech. Sakura felt if she uttered a single word, her mother would disappear again.

"Sakura-chan," Nadeshiko said cheerfully. "It's so good to see you."

"M-Mother!" Sakura cried, unable to say anything else, the thought of seeing her mother in a place like this was too incredible. She held out her hand daintily, as if she were about to touch a fragile piece of art. Sakura's heart thumped hard and loud against her chest, so much so that she half expected her mother to ask what the loud noise was. When Sakura's fingers were just inches away from Nadeshiko she swallowed a large lump in her throat and reached out for her mother with all her heart. Sakura's fingers brushed against Nadeshiko's hand, allowing Sakura to feel her mother's cool and soft skin for a brief moment. A spike of pure happiness and bliss passed through Sakura's body the second her fingers reached her mother. But the moment Sakura touched her mother, Nadeshiko started to drift away like the wind was beginning to carry her.

"Sakura-chan," she said softly again as she drifted further.

"Mother! Wait!" Sakura cried, tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. There was so much she wanted to say to her, but she was already leaving. Sakura refused to let this once in a lifetime chance to leave her after just five seconds. Without any hesitation Sakura chased after Nadeshiko, calling her as she went, hoping it would stop her.

When Tomoyo first saw Sakura staring blankly at her mother, the dark-haired girl was at a complete loss for both words, and thoughts. For a few seconds she went completely numb. To see Sakura's mother in a place like this was unbelievable. She looked exactly the way Fujitaka and Touya had always described her. She had long flowing gray hair, bright emerald eyes, and a smile that just seemed to brighten and give life to everything around them. But the longer Tomoyo stared at the image of Nadeshiko before Sakura, the more skeptical she became.

'Why would Sakura-chan's mother be here in all places? Was she watching this entire time, and decided to come help us? Why did she decide to appear only now? Could this be a trick?' Countless thoughts ran through Tomoyo mind at speeds she was unable to keep up with. But the moment she saw Sakura touch her mother's hand, her mind just stopped, and red flags flew up across her mind.

'If that's the ghost of Sakura-chan's mother, why is she able to touch her?' then another red flag flew up in her mind. 'And more importantly, why am _I_ able to see Sakura-chan's mother?'

Tomoyo had experienced a ghost before, when they had to exorcise a vengeful female ghost from a hotel belonging to two brothers. She never once saw the ghost then. To her, it seemed that Hyoshi was talking to nothing but thin air. But with Sakura's mother, Tomoyo could see her clearly, as if she was actually among the living. With those facts clear in her mind, Tomoyo could only come to one conclusion.

"Sakura-chan!" she cried after her best friend, who was walking towards the drifting image of Nadeshiko. "Sakura-chan no! It's a trick! That isn't your mother!"

But Tomoyo's cries seemed to fall on deaf ears. Sakura just kept walking towards the false Nadeshiko, who kept calling to her with a smile. Tomoyo gritted her teeth and chased after her friend. If she didn't snap Sakura out it now, who knew what Mindfreak could do to her!

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cried again as she reached out for Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura-chan no!" The dark-haired girl clamped her had on Sakura's shoulder and shook it as hard as she could, but it seemed to have no affect.

"M-Mother," the emerald-eyed girl said in a daze. Sakura brushed off Tomoyo's hand and kept walking lifelessly.

"Sakura-chan please! That isn't your mother! It's a trick!"

"Mother."

"Sakura-chan stop! It's an illusion!" By now Tomoyo ran in front of Sakura, and pushed on her shoulders, but Sakura kept walking. Tomoyo pushed harder trying to make Sakura back away, but to no avail. Tomoyo never realized how much stronger Sakura was than her until she felt her feet slide across the ground as Sakura walked. The dark-haired girl looked over her shoulder, seeing past the Nadeshiko illusion she saw a deep dark cliff coming up, and Sakura was walking straight towards it.

"Sakura-chan…." The illusion beckoned, making Sakura walk even faster, sliding Tomoyo along as if she was nothing.

"Sakura-chan please!!" Tomoyo cried in Sakura's face, but Sakura didn't seem to notice her at all. Her emerald eyes were filled with happiness and bliss, but it still seemed blank and meaningless. Tomoyo pushed harder, but Sakura only slowed down slightly. At that moment, Kero swooped down from the sky in his beast form and landed next to Tomoyo.

"What the hell is going on Tomoyo?" the beast asked as he looked between her and Sakura. He then looked over his shoulder and saw Nadeshiko smiling at him. Suddenly a flood of vision flew past Kero's eyes. There of the woman before him laughing and basking in the sun accompanied by a four-legged beast, and a tall white haired man with wings.

"Kero-chan!" Tomoyo shouted, snapping Keroberos out of his trance. "Don't fall for it! It's a trick by Mindfreak! He's using it to control Sakura-chan somehow!"

"Then we have to get rid of it!" Kero figured and fired a blast of fire at the illusion, but the fire bounced against the bright white light, and shot back at Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero, sending them flying backwards. Tomoyo heard Kero mutter a quick "sorry" as they got to their feet, but at the moment she was worried only about Sakura. She looked over and saw her best friend lying on the ground still. Relief passed through her body, and she let out a sigh, but it was short lived.

"Sakura-chan," the Nadeshiko illusion said, making Sakura's eyes snap open. Within moments Sakura was only her feet and walking towards the illusion again, forcing Tomoyo and Kero back to square one. The dark-haired girl jumped to her feet, and grabbed Sakura's wrist with both her hands and started to pull with all her might.

"Kero-chan, help me please!" Kero was about to snap his fangs onto Sakura's wrist when a thought crossed his mind.

"Why don't I just swoop down and catch Sakura when she falls?"

"Bad…idea," Tomoyo replied through her grunts of effort. "Think about it… We…. don't…. know… how deep that cliff goes. Sakura-chan could hit the bottom before you even reach the edge! And even if you do catch her, it will be harder for you to gain back your flight control. Your fight with gravity could cause Sakura-chan to slide off!"

"Oh…." Kero was about to grab the amber-haired girl's wrist when his eyes widened at the sight before them. Looking past Nadeshiko, he saw a large cloud of miasma heading straight for them! "Tomoyo! Miasmal!"

Tomoyo looked up too late, and before she knew it, she was engulfed in darkness.

OOOOO

Tomoyo opened her eyes with a groan. Everything around her was pitch black. She saw small mists of purple, which she assumed was the miasma in the air. Making sure the mask was still on her face, Tomoyo took several deep breaths before getting to her feet. The image of Sakura walking lifelessly towards the cliff still fresh in her mind, Tomoyo wanted to make sure she was fine, or get to her in time to try to stop her. But she was at a loss because of the complete darkness; she had no idea in which direction she needed to go. She wanted to let out a cry, if she didn't find her way back Sakura was going to die!

Suddenly, as if the air heard her silent cry, a ray of light pierced through the darkness. It was a thick square yellow light that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Tomoyo quickly followed the light to its source and saw Sakura standing in the center of the forest. The dark-haired girl let out a smile she was all right. Tomoyo rushed towards her friend only to slam into something hard. She used one hand to nurse her nose and used the other to feel what she had just run into. Whatever it was, it was smooth and cool. Tomoyo slammed her hand against the object several times and realized it was very sturdy and solid. The darkness slowly began to subside, and showed Tomoyo what she had just run into.

It was a wall. A white bricked wall with a window in the center. Tomoyo was about to wonder what a wall was doing in a forest when she what was happening out the window. When she looked up, she saw a sword plow through the center of Sakura's chest, making blood spray out like a river. Tomoyo felt as if she was going to be sick.

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!!!!!!" she screamed. Behind the stabbed Sakura was Mindfreak, who looked at Tomoyo before kicking Sakura over the cliff. Tears formed in Tomoyo's eyes as she pounded against the window with all her strength.

"SAKURA-CHAN!!! SAKURA-CHAN!!!! SAKURA-CHAN!!!!!!!" Her voice started to grow hoarse, but she kept screaming and pounding on the window. The darkness around her pulled back more and more to reveal that Tomoyo was in a richly furbished room. The room had four red arm chairs circled around a fireplace on the opposite end of the window, a long table right behind Tomoyo with chairs that looked freshly used, and several doors at the walls, obviously to lead deeper into wherever she was. But Tomoyo knew exactly where she was. Her eyes widened at her realization.

"It…. can't be…" she whispered, but before she could say anymore, an arm draped around her neck and started to pull her away from the window, Tomoyo instantly knew whose arm it was, and what its intent were.

"No!!!!!!" she screamed as she struggled against the arm. "Let me go!!!!! I don't want to go back!!!!!!! I don't want to be alone again!!!!!! Sakura-chan!!!! SAKURA-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!"

Suddenly a long blunt object collided with her neck making her eyes roll back into her head, and collapse.

OOOOO

Li let out a growl as he glanced around at the many dead trees. By now his powers were already long gone, making him feel even more vulnerable. The miasma had blocked his senses but now it was difficult to even walk straight. The poisonous aura was stronger in this area, and was seeping through the mask. His breaths were getting shorter and shallow, and his vision was starting to blur slightly. If this kept up, he would be in no condition to fight Mindfreak. At the thought of his newest opponent, Li gritted his teeth and walked forward. For what he did to Meilin, Li swore to make him pay.

At that moment, he heard a rustle in the bushes. The amber-eyed fighter quickly drew his sword, and prepared himself for the worst. But he instantly relaxed when he saw who it was, Eriol. But the doctor stumbled through the bushes, his hand clutched to a bloody wound on his stomach. His face was pale, and sweat was pouring from his brow. His fast and shallow breaths made it seem as though he had just finished running a marathon.

"Syaoran," he muttered weakly and collapsed. Li quickly rushed to his friend.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked plainly.

"You…." Eriol groaned as more blood poured from the wound.

"What?"

"You…. did…. this…." Li raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I was chasing after you when you suddenly stopped. I had asked to come back to camp when you just plowed your sword through my stomach!"

"A doppelganger!" Li figured out at once. "So Mindfreak can create those as well! We'll have to be extra careful then."

"Right…" Eriol groaned. Li rolled his eyes and offered his hand to the doctor.

"Take my hand, and get off your ass," he ordered. Eriol nodded with a smile, and took Li's hand. But suddenly Li slashed Eriol across the chest with no hesitation, making Eriol's eyes widen in shock.

"Syaoran…?" he muttered weakly as he hit the ground.

"Idiot. You just screwed yourself up."

OOOOO

Eriol gritted his teeth in pain as he felt Li's blade go completely through his stomach. The doctor coughed out a large amount of blood, and his hands gripped Li's shoulders tightly. Li pushed the sword deeper into Eriol's body, making him cry out in pain before his hands relaxed and he collapsed. Li smirked as he sheathed his sword and walked towards camp.

"I hope your satisfied," Eriol said from the ground, making Li stop in his tracks. "Cause that's the only free shot your going to get!" With that Eriol exploded in a puff of smoke making Li frantically search for him in confusion. The doctor suddenly appeared behind him and shot out his finger. Li froze stiff, and with a gesture from Eriol's finger, the swordsman rose into the air, and turned to face the doctor.

"Eriol…."

"Don't 'Eriol' me you fake!" the doctor declared and waved his hand. Suddenly, the image of Li melted away like snow to reveal a purple black mist in the shape of a human. Eriol let out a successful laugh.

"How…. did…. you…. know…" the mist muttered, losing its ability to speak.

"I noticed something was wrong when you made Li sprint so much further ahead of me. He might be fast, but I know he isn't that much faster than I am. So I created that clone just in case. And the moment you attacked, I got all the proof I needed."

"…. Wh-what?"

"You see if Syaoran really wanted to kill me, he wouldn't aim for my stomach, simple as that. So when you attacked the clone, I was positive that you weren't Syaoran. Now with that, I bid you farewell. Dispel!" With another wave of his hand, the human shape of the mist vanished and became nothing more than just mist.

"Now to find the real Syaoran. I just hope the others are all right."

OOOOO

"Syaoran…" Eriol groaned in pain.

"You can stop pretending you damn fake. I figured you out long ago," Li growled.

"Wh-what!"

"The second I saw the wound on your stomach, and you stumble out of the bushes, I knew something was up. For one thing, wounds don't stay on Eriol long enough for blood to pour out like that. Second, even when he's injured, he would still have that damn smile on his face, and make a stupid joke."

"You!"

"But what really screwed you up was when you took my hand. There's no way Eriol would put himself in such a vulnerable position like that knowing there's a doppelganger around without making sure that I was the real Li first. He might be an annoying moron, but he's no fool."

"No! Wait!" But Li didn't wait; he instantly sliced the fake Eriol's head off, making the body melt into nothing but purple black mist.

"Idiot," Li muttered and continued to walk.

OOOOO

Tomoyo opened her eyes with a groan. Her neck was aching, and she could see spots dance in front of her eyes. She could barely make out where she was because of both the miasma and her own groggy eyes. She shook her head several times before trying to open her eyes again. She still couldn't see a complete picture, but enough to tell what was happening. She was on the ground, and Sakura was still walking towards the illusion. A wave of panic ran through Tomoyo's body when she saw that Sakura was only inches away from falling off the cliff.

At that moment she saw a figure give a hard blow to Sakura's neck, knocking her unconscious. The figure caught her body, and dragged Sakura away from the cliff. Tomoyo let out a small sigh of relief, but instantly panicked again. What if this was another trick of Mindfreak's? What if the person who had just saved Sakura was the twisted magician? Tomoyo struggled to stand, but her legs wouldn't move, and there seemed to be something wrapped around her left arm. The dark-haired girl twisted her arm about, trying to get it free, but it was no use, it just seemed to make it worse. The figure turned towards her, and started to come closer. Tomoyo struggled even harder, but she could not free herself. The figure stood before her with their hands on their hips, and stooped down to Tomoyo's level.

"Geez, what would you guys do without me?" a confident voice sighed. Tomoyo shook her head many times to clear herself, and saw a pair of ruby-eyes staring down at her.

"Meilin-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed, delighted. "But you're supposed to be resting. Eriol-kun had to do serious surgery to get the miasma out of your system." Meilin just shrugged.

"It's damn impossible to rest when I hear your screaming, so I had to check it out," the ruby-eyed girl started to pull at whatever was wrapped around Tomoyo's arm and legs. "And what do I find? You screaming your lungs out, and Kinomoto walking like a zombie towards a cliff with some weird white lady baiting her there." With those words, Tomoyo instantly remembered what was happening before she was knocked out.

"Sakura-chan! Where is she!"

"Calm down. She's over there," Meilin pointed over her shoulder and saw Sakura out cold, and the illusion of Nadeshiko gone.

"And Kero-chan?" Meilin pointed next to the dark-haired girl, and saw Kero with his four legs, mouth, and wings tied together by strange thick brown roots. "Meilin-chan, what exactly happened? Where's that illusion Sakura-chan was seeing?"

"Well while you and Eriol were cutting into me I got the chance to go over my training again in my head, and I remembered my illusion defenses," she started, and managed to pull apart roots that tied her legs and arm down. "I remembered that illusions need complete concentration on the part of the victim to be successful. If the victim's concentration is distracted even for a second, the illusion dispels, and the trance is broken."

"How do you do that?" Tomoyo asked as she started to cut the vines off of Kero with one of her kunai knives.

"Pain," Meilin replied simply. "It's the most effective way."

"So when I felt I was hit in the neck earlier…." Tomoyo started, feeling the sore spot that was developing on her neck. "That was you…?"

"Of course! Someone had to stop you from screaming your lungs out."

"But what are these strange roots?"

"It's a killing spell," Meilin identified. "The attacker distracts the victim, mostly by an illusion, long enough to cast a powerful killing intent spell on something, in this case the roots. The object then moves in to kill the victim before they even have a chance to notice what's happening."

Tomoyo remembered the arm that draped around her neck during her illusion.

"By the time I got here, the roots were starting to strangle you, so I gave you a chop to the neck to snap you out of whatever illusion you were in. Did the same with Kinomoto, and the weird lady disappeared to."

"I see. Thank you so much Meilin-chan." The ruby-eyed girl just waved her off. A groan from Sakura made the two girls turn their heads. As Tomoyo went to help her best friend up, a thought hit her.

"Wait, Meilin-chan, for the killing spell, does the spell caster have to be close to the object?"

"Yeah, it has a really short range. The furthest you can be away from the object is about five feet. Which means….." Meilin trailed off, catching onto Tomoyo's thought.

"Mindfreak is close by," Tomoyo finished. "He has to be, and because he sent the illusion of Sakura-chan's mother straight to her, that means he knows exactly where we are."

"He could be in the trees right now!" Meilin exclaimed instantly getting into a stance, but Tomoyo shook her head.

"No, I don't believe he would risk showing himself to us now after we've broken through his illusions. Because we've done that, we'll be very cautious to whatever appears before us, which would make it harder for him to trick us. He seems like the type who would want to avoid a direct fight, so he'll go after the two people among us who have yet to experience one of his illusions…."

"Syaoran, and Eriol!" Tomoyo nodded, and draped Sakura arm around her shoulder as she stood up.

"We have to find them quickly. Li is even more vulnerable without his powers correct?" Meilin kicked Kero awake before running off, with Tomoyo and Kero following her.

"Yeah, and that will make it close to impossible for him to know what's an illusion! We have to hurry!"

"Right!" And they sprinted into the bushes.

OOOOO

Eriol walked slowly through the forest, keeping a weary eye out for anything suspicious. At one point he found himself holding up his staff to the rustling of a small forest animal. The doctor took many deep breaths to calm himself, but the feeling of anxiousness wouldn't disappear. The idea that his enemy could appear in any form would make anyone nervous, and the fact that he could not sense neither his enemy or his friends did not help either.

"Syaoran! Eriol!" He heard. Eriol instantly relaxed when he recognized Meilin's voice, with Tomoyo's voice behind her. He wondered why and how Meilin was awake already, but he pushed those thoughts aside at the thought of at least being with his friends during this anxious moment. The doctor was about to call back when suddenly his body pulsed.

Eriol froze, and his body pulsed again. A faint glow from his sleeves caught his eye, and he quickly pulled back on them. The sliver cuffs that he wore around his wrists suddenly shattered. Eriol's eyes widened to the size of melons as he watched the pieces of his cuffs hit the ground. His hands started to glow blue, and soon the blue light reached up to his chest.

"No!" he whispered.

"Eriol-kun!" Tomoyo cried and ran up closer to him with Meilin, Sakura, and Kero behind her.

"Tomoyo-san no! Stay away from me!!!" Eriol exclaimed. The complicated marks on his back glowed blue as well, and soon completely disappeared. The doctor's body very quickly became completely covered with the blue light.

"What's wrong Eriol?" Sakura asked as she stood next to Tomoyo. Eriol gritted his teeth, and pushed them away.

"Get back!!!! Get away from me!!!!" Eriol yelled again. The glowing started to flash, making Eriol panic. Fear was written all over his face.

"We aren't going anywhere, we're your friends remember?" Tomoyo reminded him.

"No!!!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!!!!!! STAY BACK!!!!!!!!!"

"We aren't going anywhere!" Tomoyo said firmly.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And Eriol exploded with a large blast of blue light destroying the entire forest.

OOOOO

When a loud cry burst through the forest Li instantly recognized the voice as Eriol, and was quickly alerted. Something major must have happened in order to make Eriol lose his composure. Li ran in the direction he heard Eriol yell. The swordsman tore through the trees and bushes frantically yelling out for his friend. The deeper he went, the thicker, and darker the forest became until Li couldn't see anything at all.

He was about to backtrack when he saw a faint light from ahead of him. Pushing his way through the bushes, Li found himself in a large meadow that seemed to stretch for miles. In the center of the meadow was a crystal clear blue lake with many fish of different shapes and sizes swimming about. The sun shone down on the meadow with a healthy tall green grass swaying in the gentle wind that passed through the air. Li looked over his shoulder and back to meadow wondering how such a contrast existed. He stepped out in the center of the meadow trying to figure out how this place remained unaffected by the miasma.

"Syaoran!" a bright voice called. Li's heart stopped. He shook his head thinking himself as crazy, but he heard his name again. "Syaoran! Over here!" Li refused to turn, his mind coming up with reasons as to why he was hearing the voice. A soft hand shook his shoulder, and turned him around.

Li felt his stomach flip, and heart stop completely. Before him stood a young girl about his age with long blue hair tied in a high ponytail with a red hair tie that had a flower pattern. Her bright green eyes seemed to sparkle against the sun, and her lips were curled in a soft small smile that melted away any thoughts Li had at the moment. She wore a bright red yukata that had a beautiful water design with a blue belt. Her hands held a white fan with a wave design, and a rather large woven basket. When she looked into Li's amber eyes, her small smile broke into a large grin.

"I'm so glad you made it," she said in a soft soothing voice. Li was at a loss for all words. His body refused to move, and his mind went completely blank. The possibility that this was all an illusion disappeared from his mind the moment he saw her.

"S-S-Shu-Ling?" was all he could bring himself to utter. Shu-Ling titled her head in confusion as she looked at him.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "You didn't forget did you?"

"Wh-what?"

"It's our day today remember?" she reminded him as if it were common sense. She held up the basket for emphasis as she continued. "You promised me that you would sneak out and we would have a picnic, and then we would go see the fireworks."

"I did?" Shu-Ling let out a sigh but the smile never left her lips. She walked up to the shocked swordsman, and stood on her tiptoes.

"You work too hard," she whispered, and gave Li a gentle kiss.

If Li's mind had any defenses left, they were shattered at that moment. When he felt her soft lips touch his a wave of pure bliss passed through him. Unconsciously he dropped his sword, and wrapped his hands around her small waist. After a few seconds they pulled away.

"So do you remember now?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah," Li replied softly, the edge long gone in his voice. Shu-Ling inserted her fan in her belt and held Li's hand.

"Good now let's go, I saw a great spot by the lake," she said leading him towards the spot. As they walked they laced their fingers around each other's, and soon fell into step. They walked further and further away from his sword, until Li could no longer see it.

But he didn't mind at all.

OOOOO

When Eriol's loud cry reached Tomoyo, Meilin, and Kero's ears, they quickly rushed in its direction. They ran through the bushes, making it to a clearing, their eyes widened at the sight before them. Eriol was flat on his stomach, roots wrapped around his entire body. His eyes were still opened, but they held an expression of pure terror. He was speaking very softly, but from where the girls were standing it was gibberish.

Without any hesitation Tomoyo and Meilin started to cut and pull Eriol free from the roots. Kero carefully clamped his mouth on Eriol hand, and pulled him away from the roots that wailed around trying to latch onto the group. The beast quickly burned them away with a blast of fire while the two girl tried to snap Eriol out of his shocked state.

"Eriol-kun. Eriol-kun!" Tomoyo said gently. The doctor's entire body was shaking as if he was an earthquake. His heart rate was at speeds similar to Meilin's. Other than fear, his eyes were blank and he was unresponsive. Tomoyo shook him harder, making Eriol look up at her.

"T-T-T-T-T-Tomoyo-san…." He whispered, but soon vomited all over the ground. (Meilin was quick enough to pull Tomoyo away).

"Snap out of it!" Meilin yelled, and gave him a hard punch to the face knocking him a few feet back. Eriol slowly got up, his legs still shaking, and his eyes still slightly fearful. He slowly pulled up his sleeves, and saw his two sliver cuffs were still there. He took several deep breaths to calm himself, and was close to normal after a few minutes.

"Meilin-chan, Tomoyo-san," he said slowly. He looked over to Kero, and saw an unconscious Sakura on his back. "What happened to Sakura-san?"

"The same as you, Mindfreak's illusion," Meilin replied.

"I see…."

"Have you seen Li around?" Tomoyo asked. "We think that Mindfreak might be after him next."

"No…." a dark voice from above them said with a chuckle. "It's more like I'm after you." The group looked up, and Mindfreak was staring down at them, a twisted smile hidden underneath his black mask.

"Not good," Kero muttered.

AN: Wow, I had no idea this arc would be this long. I wanted to end it with this chapter, but I put so much stuff in this chapter, I didn't want to rush the ending. So I guess I'll have to settle it all next chapter. I hope you guys don't mind. Anyway here's the preview for next chapter, see you there!

_Tomoyo: Oh no, Eriol and Sakura are still feeling the effects of the illusions, Meilin-chan is still recovering, and I have no idea where Li is, so I guess it's up to me and Kero-chan to hold off Mindfreak. _

_Kero: All right! Here's it is my chance to shine! _

_Tomoyo: But where in the world is Li? Why isn't he here? _

_Kero: And who's this Shu-Ling girl anyway? _

_Tomoyo: Be sure to join us next time for "The Freak's Last Trick" see you soon! _


	66. The Freak's Last Trick

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 66

When Tomoyo saw the twisted magician sitting on a tree branch not too far away, her heart pounded against her chest. His face was covered, but Tomoyo could tell there was a dark smile underneath his mask. Mindfreak jumped down from the branch, and walked causally towards them. Unconsciously Tomoyo took a step back.

"I'm so glad you could all make it here, with the exception of one of course, but we'll talk about that later," he said with a nonchalant tone in his voice.

"What did you do to Syaoran you bastard!" Meilin exclaimed. The dark magician just shrugged.

"He's occupied at the moment," he answered simply. "So don't except him to come to the rescue. Not that there'd be much for him to about this of course."

"Yeah! Well there's plenty I can do!" Meilin yelled, and with that dashed towards Mindfreak, alerting Tomoyo and Eriol.

"Meilin-chan! Wait!" Tomoyo exclaimed, but the ruby-eyed girl was already in mid-kick. Mindfreak quickly held out his arm, exposing the long spikes on his glove, making Meilin pull back. Seeing an opening, Mindfreak rolled forward, and landed a hard punch to Meilin's chest. The girl yelled out in pain, and the magician sent her back to Tomoyo's feet with a kick.

"Wh-what the hell!" she groaned weakly.

"I tried to tell you, your body is still very weak from Eriol-kun's surgery, you won't be able to fight for a few days," Tomoyo explained, causing a growl to erupt from Meilin.

"A fine time to tell me now!"

"I'm sorry."

"Well isn't this just perfect!" Mindfreak laughed. "You and Hiiragizawa have already done some of my work for me! Now all I really need to do is to take that necklace from that Sakura girl and my given assignment will be complete. My employer said he would give me an added bonus if I killed the girl as well. So I might as well!"

"If you think Eriol-kun and I will allow you to do that to Sakura-chan, you are wrong!" Tomoyo exclaimed, quickly moving in front of Sakura. Mindfreak chuckled.

"How about just you," he said, making Tomoyo let out a confused grunt. The black-clad magician snapped his fingers, and a loud cry reached Tomoyo's ears. The dark-haired girl turned to her left, and Eriol crying out in pain, gripping his heart, and collapsing to his knees.

"Eriol-kun!"

"The….miasma…..!" the doctor exclaimed weakly.

"Exactly. Your friends might have escaped my illusion, but you cannot escape the miasma!" Mindfreak chuckled.

"So there was miasma in all the illusions you showed us then!" Tomoyo said softly.

"No, just his. I wanted to make his illusion special. But that's not important. The important thing is getting you out of the way so I can take the Necklace of Kamikaze, which I don't think will take much effort."

Tomoyo stepped back slowly as she watched the twisted magician advance. Her heart was pounding against her chest, her throat was dry, and her hands wouldn't stop shaking. The only direction her body seemed to move in was backwards. Her mind screamed for her to advance and try to do something, but she just wouldn't move. When she saw the magician only come closer, her lungs seemed to grow smaller, making her take short shallow breaths. She gripped her legs to stop her hands from shaking, but to no avail, it seemed like the only thing she could do was tremble in fear.

"You're scared," Mindfreak laughed. "No, you're terrified!"

"Wh-what makes you say that?" Tomoyo asked doing her best to hide her fear.

"Spare me little girl. I am a master of fear. I can sense when even the most aloof assassin is nervous. Sensing the fear of an inexperienced girl is no problem for me," he scoffed as he came closer, making Tomoyo step back even further. "Now why don't you stand aside? I have no quarrel with you."

"Well I have plenty with you!" she remarked bravely, despite the overwhelming fear inside of her. "You planned this from the beginning haven't you? Getting Li, Meilin-chan, and Eriol-kun out of the way leaving just Sakura-chan, Kero-chan, and myself so you could take the jewel easier!"

"But of course!" Mindfreak chuckled. "According to my information, they were the most problematic. But once I got them out of the way, it would only leave two pathetic and inexperienced girls, and a worthless guardian beast!"

"Who are you calling worthless!" Kero growled. By now Tomoyo was just inches behind Kero, who had Sakura on his back. At that moment, Sakura began to stir.

"T-T-Tomoyo-chan?" she said weakly as she began to jump off of Kero. But the moment her feet touched the ground, her legs became like jelly, and refused to support her. In a few seconds, Sakura was on the ground.

"What's wrong with me?" she muttered. Mindfreak smirked under his mask.

"She's still feeling the effects I see, this will be easier than I thought."

"Tomoyo!" Kero hissed. "Do something! You have those kunai and threads don't you!" Tomoyo nodded, and started to move her hand to her pocket. Her hand refused to be still, and by now her heart was in her throat, making her breaths even shallower than before. The dark-haired girl's hand refused to grip the kunai tightly or properly. When she finally pulled one from her pocket, her hand's trembling loosened her grip, and her all confidence in her aim all but disappeared. Tomoyo was sure she had even forgotten what the term aim meant. Mindfreak just smirked as he watched her.

"Pathetic!" he spat, and with a hard back fist, knocked her aside like she was nothing. Tomoyo rolled at least four times before stopping on the ground. The kunai had slipped from her hand, and her body was still shaking. The dark-haired girl looked up in time to see Mindfreak kick Kero aside just as easily and approach Sakura. Eriol was gasping for breath as he gripped his heart tightly, but it looked as if he was trying to reach Mindfreak, but he collapsed to the ground. Meilin got to her feet, but her legs quickly gave way. And Li was nowhere in sight. There was no one standing in Mindfreak's way as he grabbed Sakura and pointed his long spikes at her neck.

'I'm sorry Sakura-chan,' Tomoyo thought as tears rolled down her eyes. Why? Why was she so scared? When she faced the bandits she wasn't afraid of them. In fact she saw the whole experience as fun, so why was she so afraid now of all times, when Sakura needed her the most! This is what she trained for wasn't it? To help Sakura whenever she needed her, but here she was on the ground too scared to even try to help the person she cared about the most in this world.

'I wasn't scared of the bandits back then because I knew Sakura-chan was there,' Tomoyo answered to herself. 'I knew that if I couldn't do it, Sakura would help me, like she always does. Even when I we were kids, she's always been helping me, and I've never done anything for her, never! Even now when she's in the worst possible danger, my body freezes and I just let it happen!'

Tomoyo gripped the dirt as she made a tight fist, and slowly got to her knees. Her hand was still shaking, and her breaths were still shallow. She grabbed the kunai she dropped and pointed it over her shaking left palm. Her mind yelling out loud protests to what she was about to do to herself, but her heart was screaming louder for her to do it.

'Not anymore. I refuse to be a pathetic little spectator ever again!!!!' With that burning thought in her mind, Tomoyo stabbed herself through her palm with her kunai. Her face twisted together in pain at the initial impact. Blood gushed from the deep wound like a flood, making Tomoyo grit her teeth pain, but she pushed the knife further into her hand, making the pain run through her body, and making her forget about all her earlier fear. The only thing she wanted to focus on was Mindfreak and Sakura.

'Has she gone mad?' Mindfreak wondered as he watched the odd girl. He then smirked at himself as he turned his eyes back on the weakened Sakura. 'She probably went insane with her fear. No matter. Now to get the necklace.'

Just as his hand was about to reach for the necklace a faint whistling sound reached his ears, and it was getting louder. The dark magician turned his head just in time to see four kunai fast approaching his face! With Sakura still caught in his grip, Mindfreak quickly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the kunai. He fully turned around to see Tomoyo standing on her feet, with kunai in between all her fingers, and a look that completely contrasted the fear her eyes minutes earlier.

"Put her down," she said with authority as she held up one of her kunai filled hands. "And prepare yourself for your last trick Mr. Freak."

OOOOO

"Here, try the steamed chicken," Shu Ling said as she held the chopsticks in front of Li's mouth. Li had forgotten what it was like to feel such peace within himself. It was as if a burden was lifted off his shoulders, and he could finally breathe. He took the piece of chicken with a look of contentment that only made Shu Ling's smile widen, and thus make him even calmer.

"How is it?" she asked.

"Good," he replied with a slight smile.

"I'm glad, it took me a while to get it right, and my mistress had to help me out a lot." A few minutes of comfortable silence passed between them until Shu Ling looked at him as if she had just remembered something. "Do Eriol-san and Meilin-san know you're out?"

"Huh?" the swordsman asked as if it was the first time he heard those names.

"You know they always come looking for you when you're gone too long. I hope you came up a reasonable excuse."

"I…guess….so….."

"That's good. It seems like every time you go somewhere with them you get seriously injured. I always worry about you, especially after you went after that Tatsuki person, you were practically bleeding to death when you came back!"

"Tatsuki…." Li muttered.

"Do you have any missions coming up soon?"

"I'm not sure."

"Do you think we can have another day like today tomorrow?" Li just chuckled.

"I don't think so. Eriol, and Meilin would get suspicious if I leave for two days in a row. Besides, I may have a mission to do tomorrow."

"Oh…I see," she whispered with a downcast in her eyes. Li held her hand, and placed his forehead on hers.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I'll be fine."

"It's not that. It's just that….I barely get to see you anymore, who knows when we can have another day like this."

"Then doesn't that mean we should do our best and enjoy today as much as we can?" he replied, a loving gaze in his eyes. Shu Ling smiled, and inched closer to him.

"You're right, we should." And with that the two shared another deep kiss.

OOOOO

Tomoyo silently swallowed a lump forming in her throat. The fear that was causing her to freeze up before was gone, now all that was left were her nerves. But the large amount of pain coursing through her body from the kunai wound she inflicted on herself, stopped her from becoming too nervous.

'I have to calm down,' she thought to herself. 'Being nervous and afraid will only disrupt my flow of ki.' As she looked on at Mindfreak, who had Sakura in his clutches, her grip on her kunai tightened, and her gaze was fixated on the twisted magician.

"My final trick," Mindfreak repeated with a chuckle. "And who will be the one to force me into my final trick? You? HA don't bother little girl! You have as much as a chance as a mouse going against elephant!"

"Well I have heard that elephants fear mice," Tomoyo retorted. "Perhaps with this fight we will see how true that statement is." Mindfreak just scoffed and held up Sakura.

"Try it if you want to, but do you really think you can throw kunai at this cute face?"

"T-T-T-Tomoyo-chan…." Sakura whispered weakly. "Run." Tomoyo narrowed her eyes, she expected the magician to use Sakura as a shield, and she knew if he had the chance, he would use Meilin, and Eriol as shields too.

'My first concern should be to lead him away from Sakura-chan and the others. But how?' Tomoyo's eyes glanced in every direction as subtly as she could, quickly taking notes on the environment and how far everything seemed to be.

They were in a rather large clearing with bushes and trees surrounding them. The closest bush on Tomoyo's side was behind her, was only five steps away. The bush behind Mindfreak seemed to be about eleven steps away, which meant that Tomoyo had a better chance of getting to hide her position faster than Mindfreak could. A victory on her part, but it wasn't enough to exploit. She was still new to fights, and she knew that if she attempted to cover herself, there was a high possibility that she could make an error, and have Mindfreak easily find her. With those thoughts, Tomoyo eliminated hiding herself as an option.

Eriol, and Meilin were on Mindfreak's side of the clearing. Eriol was only three steps to the magician's left, and Meilin was in the middle ten steps between the two of them. Even with a distraction there was no way she could even reach Meilin. Tomoyo looked at Sakura who was still barely conscious, and her eyes fell on the Kamikaze Necklace. An idea popped up in Tomoyo's head and a smile tugged on her lips. The dark-haired girl pushed down her smile, and held up her kunai ready to throw, but Mindfreak held Sakura up higher.

"Now, now, you wouldn't want to harm this cute face would you?" Tomoyo gripped her kunai tighter, but slowly lowered them to her sides, making Mindfreak smirk. "Now set down your weapons, and empty your pockets." Tomoyo nodded reluctantly, and dropped her kunai. She pulled out the rest of the kunai in her pockets, then pulled out the small golden cat bell.

"Including this?" she asked as she held it up between her index and middle fingers.

"What's that?" he asked. Tomoyo smiled as she pointed the slit at him.

"Something very interesting. Allow me to show you." At that moment a thread shot out of the bell and wrapped around the necklace. Tomoyo pulled quickly, making the necklace sail backwards, and land in her hand. Before Mindfreak registered what just happened, Tomoyo had already sprinted into the bushes.

"What the-!" the magician growled as he dropped Sakura, and ran into the bushes as well. "I will make that girl pay for this!" Once Keroberos was sure that Mindfreak was gone he walked over to Sakura and the others who seemed to be recovering slightly.

"Sakura, are you okay?" he asked carefully. Sakura let out a small groan as she held her head.

"I think so, but Tomoyo-chan…Kero-chan you have to go help her!"

"What about you guys? What if what's chasing Tomoyo is an illusion? If it is he could come back and kill you!"

"We'll be fine," Eriol piped up. His grip on his heart was lighter, and he seemed to be in less pain. Kero noticed that his hand was glowing green, which meant that the doctor most likely was healing himself right now. "I've managed to push down the miasma around my heart. I'd say I'm back to twenty-five percent. That will be more than enough to at least tell what's an illusion and what's not."

"I'd feel better if that damn kid was here," Kero grumbled. "Where the hell is anyway!"

"That Mindfreak bastard must have him in an illusion somewhere," Meilin growled as she sat up.

"It's possible," Eriol said. "But, something is strange."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, Meilin shot him a questioning look as well.

"Think about it. With all the illusions we saw, they were of something horrible, something I believe we all feared the most correct?" he received a group nod from his audience. "And we were able to find each other because we all let out a loud cry of terror right?"

"Yeah," Meilin agreed. "Finding Kinomoto, Daidouji, and you Eriol was really easy once I followed the screaming."

"But think about it, ever since we lost track of Li not once have we heard him cry out in terror, and I'm sure we would have heard at least something by now."

"Maybe he was in one, but broke out of it quickly," Sakura suggested. "I mean if anyone can tell what's real and what's not, he can."

"No Sakura-chan. Those illusions are so real not once do you think that it's all a trick," Eriol replied.

"Yeah. You truly believed it was your mother you saw earlier didn't you?" Kero added. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"But what other reason could there be?" she asked. Eriol let out a sigh, and slowly stood up.

"Regardless, I think we should go help Tomoyo-san as best as we can," he said.

"Shouldn't we look for Syaoran?" Meilin asked.

"We'd probably just be wasting our time. This forest is rather large, he could be anywhere. Besides I'm sure once we defeat Mindfreak this miasma will clear and he'll find us."

"Besides brat, we know where Mindfreak and Tomoyo are," Kero added.

"Who are you call a brat stuffed animal!" she growled.

"You obviously!"

"Enough!" Eriol barked, making the both of them stop instantly. "We don't have time for this. Kero locate Tomoyo-san, I'm sure you can at least smell her."

"Right."

"Once we find him we have to be cautious. Now that he's worn us down I'm sure he'll take advantage of every weakness possible, understand?"

"Right," Meilin and Sakura agreed.

"Good, now let's go."

OOOOO

Tomoyo's heart pounded hard against her chest. Not with fear or nervousness, but with fatigue. She had lost track of how far, or how long she had been running for, all she knew was that it must have been a while. Her legs felt heavy and were moving without her mind to guide to it. Her short breath echoed through the quiet forest, and her brow was covered with sweat. She had also lost track of whether or not Mindfreak was still following her, which was a bad thing.

Tomoyo really had no plan of action. At first all she was concerned about was getting Mindfreak away from Sakura and the others. The moment she grabbed the Kamikaze Necklace, and sprinted into the bushes, her mind went blank in terms of ideas. When she heard Mindfreak's steps as he crashed through the forest after her, she knew that at least he was getting further, and further away from the others. But now that she couldn't hear the twisted magician's steps anymore, Tomoyo didn't know what to think.

The dark-haired girl suddenly stopped, and collapsed to her knees, her panting going on like rapid fire. Her leg muscles burned, and she was surprised that her heart hadn't burst yet. She looked at her tightly closed right hand, and slowly opened it. A smile came to her lips at the sight of the necklace still in her hand. She closed her hand, and started to stand up, but a twisted voice made her freeze.

"So you finally decided to stop running..." Tomoyo looked up just in time to see a black gloved fist slam into the dead center of her face. The girl let out a loud cry as she rolled backwards like a rolling ball, and slammed her head against a tree. Before she could recover, the dark magician grabbed her by the neck, and hoisted her into the air.

"H-H-How?" was all she managed to utter from his tight grip.

"Foolish girl! Did you really expect me to chase after you like a fool!" Mindfreak gave her a strong slap to her face, and continued. "I hid myself in the trees, and just waited for you stop running. And just so you know, you didn't get very far. Those friends of yours are only three yards away from here."

Tomoyo felt her stomach sink. What felt like hours and miles to her, were only three short yards in only a few quick minutes! And from what she could tell, Mindfreak was nowhere near winded. She didn't even hear a single pant. She on the other hand could barely muster enough air to talk. Was this really the best she could do?

"I was going to spare your life, but now that you've aggravated me so much I'll just take your life as compensation!" Tomoyo squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his cold spikes press against her skin. She was really going to die! She could feel the fear rise in her again, and her muscles going stiff. Her eyes began to moisten at the thought of dying in such a dark place all alone, but then a sharp pain from her hand made her open her eyes. It was her self-inflicted wound. She moved her left finger, and the pain passed through her body making her face twist up in pain. She gritted her teeth as she moved her hand, the pain was so much for her to bear, but it was better than fear.

"What's this?" the magician asked as he watched her hand move. "Your last pathetic attempt at life?" Tomoyo's scrunched together face loosened into a small smile as she calmed herself.

"No," she said wholeheartedly. "It's a reminder!" With that she swung her leg, and slammed it into the man's groin making him drop and let out a loud yell. Tomoyo smiled and started to run again. She quickly recognized where she was now. She was close to where Meilin rescued Sakura, Kero, and herself from the killing roots, which gave Tomoyo an idea.

She quickly checked her pockets, and found that she only had one kunai, the rest she was forced to drop when Mindfreak had Sakura. With one kunai, threads she had hardly mastered, and a dark magician after her, Tomoyo knew there was no room for error.

OOOOO

Li opened his eyes with a small groan, and was instantly alerted. When had fallen asleep? How had he fallen asleep? How long was he asleep for? Were there enemies around? Why hadn't they attacked. But his worries evaporated when he heard a giggle from above him.

"Did you have a nice nap?" she asked as she looked down on him with a bright smile. Li raised an eyebrow and looked around. He was still by the lake, but it looked like dawn was coming. The red-orange sky reflected perfectly in the clear blue water, and the grass swayed gently in the wind. Li sat up and saw that he had been sleeping in Shu Ling's lap the entire time.

"F-Fine I guess," he muttered, a blush on his face. Shu Ling giggled.

"I'm glad, you were so tense that the moment you relaxed you feel asleep."

"Oh, sorry," he said, his eyes locked on her face.

"Don't worry about it." They were silent for a few more moments until Shu Ling let out a sad sigh. "Syaoran," she whispered. Her voice soft, and filled with regret.

"Yeah?"

"You have to go back."

"What? What are you talking about? Go back where?"

"Where you truly belong," she looked away, the corners of her eyes starting water. "I...I..really enjoyed today. I'll always treasure it, but you don't belong with me right now."

"What the hell are you saying?" Li was completely confused for the first time in a while. He couldn't remember anything before he walked into the meadow. What did she mean by go back?

"Remember Eriol-san, Meilin-san, Tomoyo-san, and Sakura-san! They need you right now! Mindfreak is about to be defeated, but they need your help!"

When heard the name Mindfreak, Li's mind snapped as if everything fell back into place. He saw the twisted magician, Meilin thrashing around while she was trapped in his illusion, the poisonous forest, the vast amounts of miasma in the air. His eyes narrowed, and quickly scanned the area for his sword. Shu Ling seemed to read his mind, and she pulled it out from behind her back.

"I got it for you while you were sleeping," she said answering his unasked question. "I knew you would want it right away."

"Th-thank you...?" Li really had no idea what to say. Was all of this an illusion by Mindfreak? If it was why would something of Mindfreak's own creation help Li? And why was he not going through mental torture like Meilin? Why had be been so calm this entire time?

His thoughts were broken when he felt Shu Ling's forehead against his. She gave him a deep kiss for a few moments before she pulled away, her eyes filled with sadness, but at the same time content. Li raised his eyebrow at this, but then he noticed that the girl in front of him started to fade away.

"Shu Ling!" he tried to reach her, but his hand merely passed through her like a ghost.

"Please remember our day together here Syaoran," she said softly as everything around them began to fade. "Because it was real."

And with that everything turned white.

OOOOO

Tomoyo ran with everything she had, but her legs were still feeling her last little marathon. To her fortune she did not have far to go. Although when she reached the roots she was at a loss of what to do. She only had one kunai and she knew that Mindfreak was only a few feet away. It was at that moment her legs decided to give out and she collapsed to her knees. She pushed her body to move, but nothing seemed to respond. Mindfreak's dark and twisted chuckle made her heart stop.

"The killing roots? That was your big plan?" the magician scoffed as he easily sliced five in half with his arm spikes. "These things are worthless without a proper distraction. They're as slow as turtles, and need time to finish off the victim. Time that you no longer have little girl."

Tomoyo tried to get up, but her legs seemed to be made of lead. Her lungs seemed to shrink and a dry cough escaped her lips. Mindfreak laughed as he watched her and stood over her.

"Don't think of moving. The miasma is already starting to move through your body."

"M-miasma? B-But the mask!" The magician simply pulled off the mask and tossed it away with a laugh.

"Did you really think those things stopped my miasma? It might stop the poison in the air, but my punches have more than strength behind them! Much more!"

"So, you have miasma coursing through your body?!"

"Exactly. My blood is filled with miasma! And so in everyone of my punches miasma entered your body. I guess it's only now that it's started to effect you. Oh well, at least now I get to have fun!" With that Mindfreak sent a hard kick to Tomoyo's ribs, sending her rolling around the ground. Tomoyo slammed her hand on the ground, slowing herself down, but the second she stopped, Mindfreak connected with a punch to her face. Tomoyo slid across the ground, slamming her hand on the ground again to stop herself. She quickly got to her knees just as the magician came in with a punch. The girl dove in between his legs, and slide her hand across the ground as she stood back up again.

"Is that the best you can do? HA! I might as well finish you right now!" The magician dashed towards Tomoyo but the moment he reached halfway between them, something suddenly sprang to life. It was as if an extremely thin snake in one moment completely wrapped around his entire body up to neck. His arms were pinned down, and his legs were completely immobile as well. Safe to say the twisted magician was at a loss. Before he could even ask, Tomoyo let out a laugh, her hand covering her mouth in order to hide the huge grin on her face.

"It finally worked!" she exclaimed, starting to lose control of her laughter.

"What! What the hell is this!!!" he yelled as he struggled against the thread, only to find that it only started cut deeply into his skin.

"Thread," she answered simply. "The entire time you were beating me, I had this bell out, sending out as many threads as I could across the ground. They're so thin that you wouldn't be able to notice especially when you were so focused on beating me to a pulp."

"You little bitch! You led me here on purpose!" Tomoyo straighted out her hair as she answered casually.

"Exactly. I knew that you would suspect me trying to use the roots against you, so I led you here to make you think that was true. I also knew that the threads were so thin that they would be able to run along the roots without you noticing them. So I simply let out a small amount of my ki to release the threads. Then when I was ready I sent out another pulse of ki to activate them. It was actually very simple." Mindfreak let out a loud growl as he tried to burst out of the thread, but it kept cutting deeper and deeper into his skin, making him bleed profusely. In mere moments he on his knees because of blood loss.

"You bitch!" he yelled. "I will not be beaten! This is not over!" Suddenly the magician disappeared in a blast of purple smoke, but Tomoyo didn't seem worried. She calmly pulled out her sole kunai from her pocket, and spun it by the ring.

"No this fight is over," she whispered. With those words, she quickly spun around and thrust the kunai deep into the center of Mindfreak's approaching palm, in the dead center of the eye on his palm. The dark magician's cry of pain echoed through the forest as Tomoyo kunai stabbed all the way through his palm, making the eye bleed gallons of blood. Mindfreak pushed Tomoyo away, and ran and fast as he could into the bushes, his yells still echoing through the forest.

Tomoyo thought he had escaped when suddenly he burst through the bushes, flying through air like a rock, and landed as such.

"Damn, and I thought you and Kinomoto had huge voices." Tomoyo's smile widened when Meilin emerged from the bushes. Mindfreak got to his feet, and ran in the opposite direction, only to be blown back by a powerful wind.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed excitedly when her best friend emerged with Eriol beside her. Mindfreak looked around, knowing he was surrounded, he jumped into the air hoping to reach the trees, but something hard rammed into him knocking him back to the ground.

"Kero-chan!" The beast smirked as he swooped down to join his friends who had trapped the twisted magician in a semi-circle. He looked over his shoulder and saw the bushes were only a few steps away. His chance of escape was assured if he could only distract them. He held up his good hand and fired a large blast of miasma. As they struggled not to breathe in any, Mindfreak dashed into the bushes.

"He's getting away!" Kero growled.

Mindfreak dashed harder than he thought he could. In no way did he count on this! That Tomoyo-bitch wasn't supposed to best him! The others weren't supposed to escape his illusions! Where had gone wrong!? The dark magician knew he needed to contact his master, but suddenly he bumped into something hard.

"Going somewhere?" the magician for the first time felt pure fear as he looked into a pair of amber eyes filled fury. His face was covered by the darkness, but his eyes seemed to pierce through everything and paralyze him with fear. Mindfreak let out a yell as he threw a punch at the figure, but it had absolutely no affect. It only succeed in making the rage filled eyes angrier.

"St-stay back!" he yelled as the figure stepped closer and drew his sword.

"Pathetic!" the figure spat, his voice low and dark. "You say your a master of fear, you love to watch others suffer and wallow in all that they are afraid of, and yet here you are frozen by your own fear. What's the matter? Not enjoying it? Because I certainly am!"

"Get away from me!" he turned around to run, only to have Tomoyo and the others block his path. "No! No! It wasn't supposed to be this way!"

"I find it funny that a so called master of fear can get scared so easily," Eriol chuckled.

"It certainly is rather ironic," Tomoyo agreed. Mindfreak threw another punch at the figure, but it was caught, and the figure broke his arm with a simple twist.

"Man I have never seen Li be this intimidating," Meilin chuckled. "It's fun to watch!" Li grabbed Mindfreak by the collar and slammed him against a tree, his sword inches from his neck.

"Now that all your damn illusions and tricks are used up, what are going to do now huh!" Mindfreak attempted to try a blast of miasma but his deep wounds from Tomoyo's threads became even deeper, stopping all his movement.

"D-Don't kill me please!" he pleaded.

"You're going to answer a few questions for me got it!"

"Yes!"

"First off, who the hell are you!" Li grabbed his mask and harshly pulled it from his face. He was met with a young man with cream skin, an odd color of blond hair, and blue eyes. He looked about Eriol's age. When the doctor saw the face behind the mask, his eyes widened.

"J-John?!" he exclaimed. Eriol pushed past Li to get a closer look. The young man identified as John, looked up at Eriol, and all the fear in his eyes were replaced by pure and utter anger.

"Get the hell away from me Hiiragizawa!" he yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Eriol asked.

"Don't play the fool you bastard!!!! I took the name Mindfreak, and mastered everything concerning miasma for only one purpose! TO DESTORY YOUR WORTHLESS SOUL!!!!!!!!"

"J-John...I..."

"Do you think I'll ever be able to forgive you for what you did! You took everything away from me! EVERYTHING!!!! MY HOME! MY FAMILY!!! EVERYTTHING!!!! I WISHED YOU WOULD HAVE DIED ALONG WITH THAT WITCH YOU CALL YOUR SISTER!!!!!!" Eriol's eyes widened, and he quickly looked away from whatever relationship he had with the man before him.

"I see..." Eriol muttered. "So you took on this guise as a way to gain your revenge. I understand. So as far as I know, the John I used to know is dead."

"That's right! He's dead along with the rest of our town!!! All of them dead! Because of you!!!!!" he yelled, by this pointed being held back by Li. "I have nothing left but my burning hatred for you Hiiragizawa! My soul can never rest in piece as long as you walk this earth!"

"Li..." Eriol whispered, his back to his former friend. "Do as you wish." The doctor then walked away his head hanging low in what appeared to be shame.

"Eriol-kun..." Sakura muttered. She and Tomoyo quickly followed him.

"Don't walk away from me you murderer!" John yelled, but was silenced by Li stabbing his sword inches away from his throat.

"Say another word to him and I'll tear out your throat with my bear hands!" he growled dangerously. "Now who sent you."

"Like I'd ever say anything!"

"Meilin!" As if on cue Meilin slammed hard kick in John's stomach, making the man cough out a large amount of blood. The ruby-eyed girl started slamming countless kicks on John's body until Li signaled her to stop for now.

"Fine..." he muttered weakly, blood flowing down his mouth, and forehead. "My master is..."

But he never got to finish. At that very moment four projectiles flew out of nowhere, and embedded themselves deep in John's chest, killing him instantly. Li and Meilin whirled around and scanned the forest, but nothing seemed to be out there. Li let out a loud frustrated yell, the miasma in the forest was still blocking his senses.

"Who did you think he was about to say?" Meilin wondered. Li looked at the four projectiles that killed Mindfreak. What killed him was ki, blue ki in the exact shape of kunai.

"I don't know, but whoever it was, they want no one to of their existence," Li turned around and walked away. "Either way let's get out of here."

"Right. Glad this whole damn episode is over!"

"You aren't the only one."

OOOOO

The sun the next day shone brightly upon the group. The sky was a perfect light blue, a small amount of thin clouds floated along, and the air was calm. The forest that once held Mindfreak was miles behind them as they walked along a dirt path chatting amongst themselves.

"I can't believe you were the one that disabled Mindfreak like that Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said in awe. Tomoyo just smiled as her hands ran along the bandage on her left hand.

"I had a lot of luck on my side. I was lucky he had used a large amount of his power on the illusions he used on you and the others."

"But still at least your training is showing results unlike mine," Kero grumbled.

"What was that stuffed animal!" Meilin growled.

"You heard me brat! You suck as a teacher!" Sakura and Tomoyo just sighed as they watched the two bicker.

"So how did you escape the torment of your illusion Syaoran?" Eriol asked Li, the two of them lagging behind the others. Li held up the small blue necklace he wore.

"This," he said simply. "When I woke up I found the roots weren't touching me at all, and the necklace was glowing."

"It turned the dark negative energy into a light positive energy," Eriol said in awe. Li nodded.

"Even in death she's still worrying about me," he whispered as he looked at the necklace, a longing gaze in his eyes. "So who was John?" he asked suddenly.

"An old friend..." Eriol answered, but his eyes quickly down casted. "Let's just leave it at that."

"Fine."

OOOOO

"Mindfreak has been silenced my lord," a dark figure said as he bowed to another figured covered by darkness.

"You have done well. I have another assignment for you..."

"Very good my lord." As two shadows conversed, Viga stepped out of the darkness, a smirk on his face.

'I hope you're prepared Syaoran because things are only going to get tougher. From this moment on.'

AN: Oh my god!!!!!!!!! I'm finally done with this arc!!!!! God, I had no idea it would take so freakin long!!!!!! A situation that was only supposed be a 2 parter became this four chapter long arc!!! God!!!!! And it had to be longer because I REFUSED to have this arc go on for another chapter! (Sigh) Anyway, sorry for the delay, writing this chapter took a lot longer than I thought. First there was a dilemma with Tomoyo's fight with Mindfreak. Originally she was supposed to have an entire plan drawn up, and the entire fight was to be her carefully getting Mindfreak into her traps. But then I thought: "This is her first real fight with a dangerous opponent, she'd be too scared to think that far ahead." So I had her simply run a lot and come up with a plan at the last minute since it seemed more reasonable considering this was her first real fight. Then there was a big issue with Shu Ling. I'm sure you guys are disappointed at how very little Li and Shu Ling talked about the past. But honestly I had no idea what to have her say without giving too much away. Then I thought: "This is her first real appearance. I should show her personality, and her interaction with Li first before I reveal anything." That seemed to work since I wanted to show why Li would fall in love with anybody. It also worked to show another side of Li that so far not even Sakura has been able to bring out. I figured there would other appearances for Shu Ling down the road, this first one was more of an introduction. Then there was Mindfreak identity. I wanted to go more in depth than I did, but that would have required extending it to another chapter which I REFUSED to do, so I figured him yelling out stuff would be enough. I'll probably go more in depth with that as more Eriol story arcs pop up. But it was good enough to introduce hints at Eriol's back story, so it wasn't a complete loss or cop out. Anyway now that this arc is finally out of the way I can finally get into the one arc I wanted to write for a while. Unlike "Mindfreak" this arc has been planned since Season 2 started, but I needed to introduce all the characters, and I couldn't get to it without writing Mindfreak first, you'll find out why when I put it up. So without further ado here's the preview for the next chapter See you there. And Please please Review!

_Sakura: We've finally defeated Mindfreak! I say we celebrate! _

_Kero: Okay but please no more magic shows, I've been scarred for life! _

_Sakura: Don't worry I'm sure we won't do that again. Huh? What's wrong Tomoyo-chan? You've been acting weird since we got those letters from home. _

_Tomoyo: Oh it's nothing Sakura-chan. _

_Sakura: Okay, well next time we get to a really fancy party sponsored by an odd woman. But why is Tomoyo-chan so against it? What does she have against this woman? You'll just have to find out next time in "A Scornful Smile" see you there! _


	67. A Scronful Smile

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 67

"With Mindfreak's failure, we must move faster than originally intended," a tall dark figure said to three figures, who were also covered by the dark. The tall figure tossed a scroll towards the three, the biggest of the figures caught it and unrolled it.

"What are these my master?" the biggest asked, showing it to the other two, who were significantly smaller.

"Those are the list of your targets," the tall figure replied. "A rather large list I admit, but I want this mission complete in less than four weeks is that possible?"

"But of course my lord," one of the smaller figures answered quickly.

"If you leave it to us we will have the mission complete in half the time," the final figure added. "You can count on us."

"I know," the master replied. "Now go, and make sure to kill any offspring the targets might have as well. Understand?"

"Yes mater!" And with that the three figures disappeared. The tall figure looked over his shoulder at the three who were standing behind them.

"Follow them," the master ordered the shorter of the two. "Kill anyone who fails, or might talk understand?"

"It will be done my lord." The shorter figure bowed, and disappeared as well.

"You know that I am counting on you as well, Viga." The white haired, black clad villain chuckled as he mockingly bowed to the tall figure.

"But of course master. I am honored that you depend on me so much," he said with an obvious mocking laugh. The tall figure sneered.

"Watch your tone." Viga just waved the figure off as he started to walk away, but suddenly turned to face the tall figure again.

"Your assassins will have a hard time, just to warn you."

"Oh? And what makes you say that? Those four are the best!" Viga chuckled again.

"I know, and I do not doubt their skills, it's just that one of those targets happens to be in a location that is very close to Syaoran and his little friends. And I know that they will take the bodyguard job that is bound to present itself."

"You have mentioned this Syaoran before, but do you really think that he and his little friends will be able to defeat the three best assassins in my army?" Viga turned away and started to walk as he answered.

"Oh, I don't think. I know."

OOOOO

Sakura couldn't help but smile brightly as the group walked through a meadow. The sun beat down on them with close to no cloud interference. The wind was cool and was prefect to prevent the air from becoming too hot. She heard the small animals scurry about in the tall grass, and the birds flew around, landing just a few inches away from her, and pecking at the dirt for worms. Overall it was a great day. The weather had been similar to this for the past few weeks, which was good for Sakura and the others, who had just emerged from a long and cold struggle against the twisted magician Mindfreak.

Sakura's smile dropped slightly when she remembered who Mindfreak turned out to be, an old friend of Eriol. Sakura had not known Eriol for long. In fact it was only two months ago that they had met, but Sakura knew he was a kind gentle person. But to Mindfreak, or John, as it turned out his real name was, he was the worst person to walk this Earth. John had said that Eriol took everything from him, but Sakura couldn't even see Eriol swat at a fly let alone kill anyone. She glanced over her shoulder at the doctor was had fallen back with Li to talk about something. Sakura just sighed and figured that Eriol would tell them when he wanted to. But that didn't stop Sakura from being curious.

Eriol's eyes remained fixed on the ground in front of him. Even when he was talking to Li, he couldn't bring himself to look up, he was too tired. For the past few weeks it had been impossible for him to get a good night's rest. Every time he closed his eyes, nightmares plagued his mind and soul. He saw burning wood, mobs of outraged peopled yelling in both anger and fear, cries for help, and many other things that made sleep all but impossible. To make matters worse, between nightmares he always saw John's rage filled expression, yelling for him to die. Eriol knew exactly why his old friend would feel that way, and knew that if he was in his shoes, he would want himself to die too, but that didn't make the doctor feel any better. Eriol needed something to distract his already exhausted mind, and a discussion about who might have sent Mindfreak after them was not helping in the slightest.

"It couldn't have been Viga," Li muttered under his breath.

"Why not," Eriol asked half-heartedly.

"It's not his style. Viga prefers direct fights, and wouldn't send some twisted coward who hides behind illusions and poisons to get the jewels, he wouldn't trust a guy like that."

"You never know, maybe he lowered his standards," the doctor replied dully.

"Something the matter?" Eriol just waved the swordsman off as he walked further ahead.

"Just tired is all," he answered simply.

"Damn, when was the last time I saw him so beat?" Meilin wondered aloud. Li let out a frustrated grunt.

"You know I actually miss his annoying pestering," the swordsman admitted, but then just rolled his eyes. "But he'll snap out of it a couple of days."

"Yeah, then you'll be saying that you prefer him when he was sulking," Meilin replied. Li just scoffed

"Eriol-kun, perhaps you should lie down for a few minutes," Tomoyo suggested when the doctor walked by her.

"No I'm fine," Eriol said with a smile. "I just need a good meal to wake me up that's all."

"You read my mind!" Kero exclaimed suddenly from Tomoyo's pocket. "When was the last time we had a decent meal around here!"

"Kero-chan, we've been in the forest for a while," Sakura pointed out. "Besides even if we do make it to a town we're low on money, a good meal doesn't just fall out of the sky you know."

At that moment a medium sized brown wrapped package suddenly dropped from the sky in front of the group. They looked up and a hawk swoop down from the sky, and landed on top of the package, with one of its wings in a salute. Tomoyo raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw the hawk.

"What the hell?" Meilin muttered.

"What an odd bird," Eriol said as he eyed the bird up and down.

"Careful, it might be a trap," Li warned, his hand already on his sword. Sakura looked at the bird then at the package it was sitting on. On the front there was writing for who it was for, and Sakura eyed it carefully.

**To Sakura and friends**it read, Sakura instantly recognized the handwriting.

"It's from my dad!" she exclaimed excitedly, and quickly ran to the package.

"Your dad? How the hell does he know we're here?" Meilin wondered.

"It's a delivery hawk," Tomoyo answered quietly. "It's specifically trained to seek out people who are very far away. They are mostly used by the wealthy since the hawks are very expensive to get."

"Eh? How do you know that Tomoyo?" Kero asked as he helped Sakura unwrap the package.

"I read a book about them once," she answered with a smile.

"That doesn't explain how this bird was able to find us," Eriol said as he eyed the bird up and down again.

"All right box lunches!!!!!" Kero yelled suddenly. "Enough to last at least three months!!!!!"

"Knowing you maybe a week," Sakura giggled as she read the letter that came with the lunches. "He says he that he figured by we would be missing a good meal so he, my brother, and Yukito-san made these lunches for us! I have to reply right away!"

"Man your dad must be a freakin' mind reader!" Kero exclaimed, already chowing down on one of the lunches.

"Come on guys!" Sakura called out to her friends. "Let's eat!" As she handed them different lunches, Sakura noticed a scroll at the bottom of the package. Its ends were made of pure gold, the paper a rich soft white she had never seen before, and it was all tied together by a red ribbon made of silk. Sakura looked over it and saw who it was for on the back.

"Tomoyo-chan, there's a...letter...or scroll thing here for you." Tomoyo titled her head to the side in confusion.

"Eh? Who would send me something like that?" she wondered as she opened the scroll. The moment she saw the first set of words on it, her face grimaced, and her hands started to shake. Eriol looked up from his box lunch to look at Tomoyo, and literally did a double-take to make sure the expression he saw he was truly on Tomoyo's face.

An angry scowl. Her eyebrows were furrowed together revealing a shallow stress line in the middle of her forehead. Her teeth were grit as if she were growling, and her eyes were full of so much scorn and annoyance that Eriol could easily picture her as Li. This couldn't have been the sweet, and calm Tomoyo he had come to know could it?

"T-Tomoyo-san are you all right?" he asked carefully, half-expecting Tomoyo to suddenly morph into a murderous demon. Tomoyo at first didn't reply, so the doctor tried again. "Tomoyo-san? Was it bad news?" When Tomoyo suddenly whirled around to face him, the doctor quickly closed his eyes as if she were about to yell him like Li did, but he was proven wrong.

"It's nothing Eriol-kun," she said sweetly with a bright smile. "And you're right it is bad news."

"Oh? What has happened?"

"It's my cat. It tried to eat one of the fish I have back home, but choked on it and has died," she answered sadly, while wiping the false tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Damn, what a stupid cat," Meilin scoffed as she ate her box lunch.

"Meilin-chan!" Sakura hissed.

"What? You have admit that was a damn stupid cat! What kind of predator chokes on their prey?"

"I'm so sorry Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said softly, ignoring Meilin for now. Li just scoffed and rolled his eyes. Meilin did the same as she watched Sakura comfort Tomoyo. Eriol let out a sigh. Whether out of relief or worry, he wasn't sure, but he knew that a sweet, kind, and level-headed girl like Tomoyo wouldn't have such an angry expression on her face over a cat.

OOOOO

It was mid-day when the group laid eyes on a town in the distance. By now Eriol had forgotten all about his exhaustion and Mindfreak temporarily, and kept a wary eye on Tomoyo, who had been acting odd throughout the morning. To a passerby Tomoyo seemed to be happy, and normal, nothing wrong with her. But Eriol noticed small but significant abnormalities in her behavior.

First, she had fallen out of step with Sakura. Tomoyo would always stay at Sakura's side as they walked together, but after the dark-haired girl received the letter, Tomoyo was either lagging behind Sakura, or ahead so much that Sakura had to jog to catch up with her it was as if Tomoyo wasn't focused on how fast she was going at all. Second, the conversations she had were mostly one sided with Tomoyo saying close to nothing at all. Usually when he talked with Tomoyo she was always have a quirky remark, or a funny story to relate to the subject, but today she would only say a few words like "oh really?" or "I see." After that she would say nothing else. The most Eriol or Sakura were able to get out of her were semi-interested grunts. And finally, her smile. Eriol was no expert on Tomoyo, but not even Sakura seemed to notice the change in her smile. Tomoyo's usual smile was bright and cheerful. Whenever he looked at her he couldn't help but break out in a bright smile himself. But today, maybe it was just him, it seemed forced. Instead of breaking into a smile, Eriol felt uncomfortable, and on edge when he looked at Tomoyo's smile today. He felt as if the slightest movement would make Tomoyo explode in a fit of anger like Li. That didn't fit Tomoyo's personality at all.

Was the news in the letter that bad? Eriol would never know because not soon after they had all finished eating what they could from the lunches, the doctor saw Tomoyo crumple the rich looking scroll into a small ball, and stuffed it into her pocket. Eriol wasn't sure what to make of her strange behavior. Was she worried? Angry? Was the letter from someone she would rather not mention? Countless possibilities ran through the doctor's head, but none seemed to fit.

"Finally a town!" Kero sighed. "Let's get a hotel!" The town was very rich looking. The houses and shops were rather large, and built in western styles. The roads crisscrossed throughout the town, and the group saw so many people they began to reclassify the settlement before them as a small city. What the caught the group's eyes the most was the large mansion that towered over the city in the back. It was built on top of a hill and seemed as if it were twice the size of the small city in length alone. The mansion stretched both from front to back, and to side to side, making it seem like a castle. The large house even went a few feet into the forest, making it so far the biggest mansion they had seen.

"This place looks pretty expensive," Meilin said. "And stuck up."

"Come on Meilin-chan, you shouldn't pass judgment so soon," Sakura replied. Meilin just scoffed.

"Take my word for it Kinomoto, rich people are the same. Stuck up, selfish, bastards who are only worshiped because of their damn money. You can't even look at them the wrong way because if you do they use their damn connections to screw you over!"

"But still they should have some nice clothes right Tomoyo-chan?"

"Actually I agree with Meilin-chan," Tomoyo replied softly but with a smile, shocking Sakura and Meilin. "This place does look very expensive, and we are running low on money. Besides I'm sure that even the cheapest outfit they have would cost us a fortune. So it will probably be better if we just move on."

"Eh?" Sakura gasped. She was now completely at a loss. "But you never pass up the chance to look at clothes. It's your favorite thing to do."

"I guess I'm just not in the mood today, sorry Sakura-chan," she apologized.

"Let's go then," Li said simply and started to walk. But the moment he stepped on the road a fast moving carriage suddenly sped towards him. Li quickly jumped off the road, and pulled out his sword. The second his feet touched the ground he was surrounded by women dressed in black robes armed with kunai knives. Li gritted his teeth as he looked around him. They weren't in any stances, their hands only held the kunai, but he knew that if he moved his body would covered with metal. True professionals.

"Li!" Eriol called as the others rushed to the scene. "Who are your new friends?"

"I don't know," he called back. "But they certainly aren't amateurs." Tomoyo eyes widened when she saw the black-clad women who had surrounded Li. Her hands shook, and a look of dread crossed her eyes for a brief second.

Li stood frozen in the center of the ring. If he moved even a single finger, they would all throw their kunai, and he knew he would not be able to dodge, and deflect all of them. He could signal for one of the others to attack, but the women would surely catch on, and probably attack at the sign of even the slightest signal. He let out a small growl as he fingered the hilt of his sword. His tension only rose when he saw two more carriage ride up and stop. More black-clad women stepped out. One set joined the ring around him, while another started to move towards the others.

"I say bring it on!" Meilin said excitedly as she cracked her knuckles. "It's been a while since I've had a good straight up fight."

"Easy Meilin, this ladies seem like they mean business," Eriol warned. "To be able to suddenly surround Li like that, they must masters at concealing their auras. Even I didn't sense them until they had fully surrounded him."

"So what do we do?" Sakura asked worriedly as more started to appear. "Can we really fight all of them?" Eriol looked over his shoulder and saw Tomoyo literally shaking. He wasn't sure of the reason, he could tell she wasn't scared. She grit her teeth as if she were trying to decide on something, on what, Eriol wasn't sure of either.

"Stand down!" Tomoyo said suddenly in a loud commanding voice, surprising her friends and the women. The women looked over to her, and quickly backed away from them.

"Our apologies Lady Tomoyo," one of them said as they went down to their knees to bow to the dark-haired girl.

"Lady Tomoyo?!" the others repeated in disbelief. Suddenly a door on one of the carriages flew open, and a woman jumped out. She wore a bright long and red silk kimono jacket draped over a normal blue kimono with cheery blossom and rose designs. Tomoyo looked up and saw similar violet eyes looking down at her in shock and surprise, with short brown hair that almost covered her left eye on side.

"T-T-Tomoyo!!!" the woman cried as she rushed to the dark-haired girl, and gave her a big hug.

"Mother," Tomoyo whispered.

"What on Earth are you doing here? Why are wearing such raggedy clothes? Where's Sakura-chan? Is she with you?"

"Mother," Tomoyo said simply with a sigh. "I think it would be very polite for you to introduce yourself." Tomoyo mother looked over her shoulder and saw Sakura and the others looking at her in shock and confusion.

"Oh, I see." Tomoyo sighed again as she released herself from her mother's hug to do the introductions.

"Everyone this is my mother Sonomi Daidouji. Mother these are my friends. Eriol-kun, Meilin-chan, Kero-chan, you know Sakura-chan of course, and the one the bodyguards were about to attack is Li." Sonomi's eyes widened when she heard the name Li. She looked at the young man with intense amber eyes in shock, but quickly shook it off.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you," she said politely with a bow. "Thank you for taking care of Tomoyo all this time. I had no idea that my daughter was running around the country with such interesting people," she said pleasantly. "Or the fact that she was running around the country at all..." her tone suddenly became bitter as she shot a look at Tomoyo who quickly looked away.

"Oh why is that?" Meilin asked.

"Oh I'm not sure," Sonomi said as she placed a hand on her chin as if she were thinking. "Perhaps it is the fact that I have not seen my daughter in almost three years?" the brown-haired woman shot another look at Tomoyo, but the dark-haired girl didn't give her mother a second glance.

"Mother," she whispered. "My friends and I were just about to leave..."

"Who said anything you leaving?" Sonomi cut her off. "I insist that you and friends join me, perhaps you can share your adventures over a nice cup of tea at the mansion."

"Mansion...!" Kero whispered in awe. But before the beast could answer, Tomoyo beat him to it.

"We appreciate the offer, however we are in a rush..."

"That wasn't a request Tomoyo," Sonomi muttered soft enough so that only Tomoyo could hear. The dark-haired girl's eyebrows furrowed for a split second as her mother walked past her and went back into her carriage, having one of the bodyguards keep the door open for them.

"Well it would be rude to decline her request wouldn't it?" Tomoyo said to her friends with a smile. "Shall we go then?" Kero grinned and flew as fast he could into the carriage.

"All right! Do you know the kinds of food the rich get to eat! This will be awesome! I can't wait to see the sweets!"

"Damn glutton..." Meilin muttered as she got in as well.

"Tomoyo-chan are you all right?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I'm just fine Sakura-chan," she replied cheerfully. Sakura gave her a worried look before entering the carriage herself.

"Are you sure you're all right Tomoyo-san?" Eriol asked.

"I said I was fine didn't I!" she quietly snapped. "Now please get into the carriage."

"Sorry," the doctor said quietly and got in. When Li walked past her he just shot her a look. A look of understanding pity. But before Tomoyo could say anything about it he had got into the carriage. The dark-haired girl put her hands in her pockets and took several deep breaths before going into the carriage with a smile.

But inside her pockets, her hands had curled up into tight fists.

OOOOO

The ride towards the mansion was quiet, too quiet. There was an unbearable, awkward silence save for the clattering of the carriage, and Kero's random bursts of what he would eat when they got there. But the odd thing was the awkwardness, uneasiness did not come from the group, but from Tomoyo and her mother.

The moment the door closed, and the coach began to move, Tomoyo kept her eyes out of the window, and Sonomi kept her eyes fixed on Tomoyo. The dark-haired girl would occasionally look from the window to her mother, as if checking to see if she were still there, then quickly go back to looking out the window. Often Sakura would notice that Tomoyo eyes would move in random directions at times. A minute passed of this, and silence still plagued the carriage. Sakura casted a weary look to her friends to see if they could help, but Li seemed like he was sleeping, and Meilin was looking out the window. Eriol noticed Sakura's silent cry for help, but he simply shrugged at her, at a loss of what to do himself.

"So tell me, what have you been up to Tomoyo?" Sonomi asked suddenly.

"Nothing important mother," Tomoyo replied with a smile as she went back to looking out the window.

"Are you sure, because I have heard very interesting rumors..." she trailed off and looked towards Li, and shot him a look. The swordsman felt her gaze, but didn't bother to respond.

"I'm sure they are nothing more than exaggerations," Tomoyo said a smile still on her face. "And only a foolish person would believe them," her voice suddenly becoming low, and dripped in bitterness.

"Rumors often have a merit of truth behind them however," Sonomi said, her voice getting lower, and starting to lose its pleasantness. "So it would understandable for someone to believe that at least some of it is true." Tomoyo didn't say anything back, she simply went back to looking out the window, and said nothing else to her mother. Sakura looked between mother and daughter frantically, and could barely suppress a scream building up in her throat at the unbearable tension between them.

"Um...what exactly have you heard about us..." she asked nervously, surprised she could even speak.

"Oh nothing much, just how a bunch of kids managed to take down a class S criminal, several serial killers, and many bandit gangs. But I'm sure like Tomoyo said, it's nothing important," Sonomi said amicably, but her tone was dripped in bitterness. Tomoyo gave her mother a slight side glance before returning to the window.

"I wouldn't exactly call those important either," Sakura chuckled nervously, but Sonomi didn't pay her any mind, her eyes were fixed on Tomoyo, who seemed to be doing everything in power to avoid her mother's gaze. Sakura leaned back against her seat and sighed quietly.

This couldn't be how a mother and daughter acted towards each other.

OOOOO

"Remind me again how we got into this mess!" Meilin growled as she pulled off her normal outfit. When they had arrived at the mansion they had found out that Sonomi was hosting a large formal party there, and couldn't have tea with Tomoyo and her friends like she had planned. Sakura wasn't sure to either relived or disappointed. She chose the former. The carriage ride had been a complete disaster in her eyes. The tension between Tomoyo and Sonomi was so thick, she wasn't sure that even sharpest sword could cut it. The ride had been only ten minutes long, but it seemed like an eternity to Sakura. If they had the tea party, it probably would have been much more worse than the carriage ride. Not wanting to give up, the brown-haired woman invited them to party, and gave them formal dresses and suits to wear.

"It was my mother's idea," Tomoyo replied as she looked at the dress she was given.

"It could be fun though," Sakura piped up as she started to undress. "Your mom could probably show us all kinds of things!"

"Don't be foolish Sakura-chan," Tomoyo muttered quietly. Meilin raised an eyebrow, but kept her eyes on her dress.

"What did you say Tomoyo-chan? I didn't hear you."

"Nothing at all," the dark-haired girl replied cheerfully.

"What the hell is this!!!!" Meilin as she held up what looked like a long cylinder lamp shade with strings.

"It's called a corset Meilin-chan," Tomoyo answered. "You wear it under your dress. Allow me to help you." After a few minutes the hallway echoed with Meilin's yells.

"OW!!!!! DAMN IT!!!! DOES THE WORD TIGHT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU DAIDOUJI!!!!!!!!"

"I'm sorry Meilin-chan," Tomoyo apologized as pulled the last of the strings, making Meilin yell even louder. "That's how it's supposed to be."

"WHAT THE HELL DOES "SUPPOSED TO BE" MEAN!!!!!!!!! OW!!!!!!! IS THIS SOME KIND OF WESTERN TORTURE DEVICE!!!!!! BECAUSE IF IT IS I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!"

"It's supposed to give your body an hourglass shape. It's the proper thing for women to wear," Tomoyo answered calmly as she tied the last string. "There. Perfect."

"PERFECT MY ASS!!!!!!" Meilin took a shallow gasp for air. "I..can't breathe...! Get it off!!!! Get it off!!!!!"

"Don't worry Meilin-chan it's only for tonight," Tomoyo tried, but Meilin was already thrashing around the dressing room, kicking down every table, chair, and mirror in search of something to untie the torture device.

"Okay...while she's doing that let's get yours on shall we Sakura-chan?" Sakura's eyes widened as she looked from Meilin thrashing around to the corset Tomoyo was holding up. She sweatdropped in fear.

"Uh...Tomoyo-chan..." Sakura said nervously. Tomoyo just sighed as she looked at the three pairs of heels that sat with their dresses.

"If you guys think the corsets are painful, just wait until you have to wear the heels."

"Oh no..."

"Oh shit...!"

OOOOO

"Leave it alone," Eriol hissed at Li, who was fidgeting with his bow tie. "It's fine."

He and Li waited in a grand hallway in front of large and winding stairs for the girls to come down in their dresses. The hall seemed to go on forever as it stretched from a large pair of golden doors down a 90 yard corridor, then made turn and continued for most likely another 90 yards. The hall was brightened by tall windows placed along the white bricked walls. The windows went from the ground and up to near ceiling levels. Gold and sliver Chandeliers decorated the light brown ceiling as they followed the floor down the long hall. A soft red carpet had been rolled out that stretched as far as the hall, to guide visitors to the ballroom, the room that lay behind the tall golden double doors to Li and Eriol's right.

"Damn I hate this thing!" Li growled. He and Eriol wore similar tuxedos with tails. Eriol, used to dressing in this fashion took it with a smile, Li was just annoyed. The suit was stiff and uncomfortable, he could barely bend his arms, or raise his legs to an acceptable kicking level. The bow tie only seemed to limit the movement in his neck, and his shoes were a size too small. To Li a tuxedo was pure hell.

"Hey Syaoran," Eriol whispered to the fidgeting swordsman. "Have you noticed anything strange about Tomoyo lately?"

"You mean other than her blatant dislike for her mother? Her obvious wanting to be anywhere but in the presence of her mother? The dread she feels when hears her call her? Or the feeling that she 's almost nothing in her presence?" Li said bluntly, all the while still fidgeting with his bow tie.

"Wow, so you noticed all that huh?" Eriol chuckled. "I shouldn't be surprised, seeing as you're like that with your own mother."

"Oh don't get me started," Li groaned.

"Ah, here they come," Eriol said as he watched the three girls come down the stairs.

Tomoyo wore a dark blue gown that had a puffy skirt that covered her feet. She wore heels of the same color, and white gloves that went up to her elbows. Her sliver crescent moon earrings flashed in the fading light. Her hair was tied in a high bun, and Eriol couldn't help but chuckle when he saw her hour-glass shape figure.

Sakura wore a pink gown that was white at the bottom. She carefully lifted the skirt to make sure her feet were making it down each of the stairs. This allowed her to show off her shining ruby high heels that sparkled as much as Tomoyo's earrings. Her hair was still the same, Li and Eriol could tell it had been brushed throughly. She wore golden star earrings that shook as she carefully made her way down the stairs.

Meilin wore a dark red gown with the same color as her heels. The girl gripped the railing like it was here only life support, and carefully made her down the stairs. Her sliver lotus hoop earrings shook as she took deep breaths to keep from fainting because of the corset. She had Tomoyo loosen it as much as she was able, but Tomoyo insisted that there would less trouble if she kept the hour-glass figure look. Why western women were so obsessed with such an impossible to gain figure was beyond Meilin's understanding. Her long dark hair was tied in a bun that was held by red hair scrunchy with a lotus pattern.

"My don't you all look beautiful!" Eriol said with a charming smile.

"They don't have anything on me though!" Kero declared as he popped out of Eriol's pocket. The small beast had a small top hat, and a bow tie.

"Of course not," the doctor chuckled. When the girls reached the floor, Eriol walked up to Tomoyo and bowed to his waist before offering her his arm. Tomoyo smiled curtsied in response, and gladly wrapped her arm around his. They walked down the hall, and stopped at the tall doors to wait for the others.

Li let out a growl as he fidgeted with his bow tie for one last time before going up to Sakura and Meilin. Meilin took Li's left arm without hesitation while Sakura looked unsure, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"Hurry up," he muttered annoyed, but a small amount of red forming on his cheeks as well. "It's no big deal."

"Right." With that Sakura wrapped her arm around Li's right arm and walked towards the large double doors next to Eriol and Tomoyo.

"Aw! Look Tomoyo-san, Li is getting all the fun! He gets to have two girls on his arms!" Eriol chuckled.

"Yes, he's very lucky isn't he," Tomoyo giggled. Li glared at both of them but didn't say anything. The damn tuxedo was already giving him enough trouble. After a few moments the large double doors slowly opened.

"Well shall we?" Eriol said, and walked into the large ballroom. Li was about to walk in when he suddenly sensed something, a faint but determined killing intent. He narrowed his eyes as he looked into the ball room.

"What's wrong Li?" Sakura asked. Meilin elbowed him in the ribs to make him move.

"Come on! The sooner we get in, the sooner this stupid thing can be over, and the sooner I can take of this damn cor-whatever!" she growled.

"Right. Come on." And with that they entered the ball room, and the golden doors swung shut behind them.

AN: Stopped it kind of suddenly, but I didn't want to make it too long. In a few hours I'm going on vacation so I wanted to get this chapter up before I left. And since I'll be gone for a while I didn't want to leave it at a cliffhanger or anything so I just stopped it here. It was hard coming up with and describing dresses for the girls, but once I got into it, it got easier. It fun describing how Li felt in a tux though. Having worn one for an extended period of time myself, it was easy to write how uncomfortable he felt. Anyway, here's the preview for next chapter

_Sakura: Tomoyo has been acting weird all day, I hope the party will cheer her up _

_Kero: Well things take a turn for the worst when Tomoyo is called to her mother's office, and we're surrounded by assassins! _

_Sakura: Hoeeee!!! What's going on? _

_Kero: Be sure to catch "A Nightmare Party" next Seven Deadly Jewels see ya! _


	68. A Nightmare Party

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 68

The large golden doors opened with a low screech of the hinges. Sakura's wondered who or what was operating such large and heavy doors, but the thought was erased from her mind when she saw the vast ballroom before her.

The ballroom, to Sakura's eyes, seemed about the size of a small city. The room stretched further than Sakura's eyes could see, and seemed to continue behind a large double door made of sliver. The walls were a pure white with various portraits and paintings of different scenes as decorations. The clear white floor sparkled like glass as the large golden chandeliers from overhead shone down brightly. The celling was draped with a painting that completely covered it. It was of, fittingly enough, a vast party with various creatures and people of different fashions all in a large garden with a mansion in the background. Windows the same length as the ones in the hallway covered the left side of the ballroom, and small tables and chairs covered the right. Sakura looked up to see an entire other level of the ballroom supported by countless clear white cylinder pillars.

But what really grabbed Sakura's attention were the people. The women were dressed in various brightly colored dresses, their hairs in many styles, and jewelery that made her earrings look like an average stone. She saw dresses float like clouds, and flow like water. Dresses that had wide and puffy bell shaped skirts likes hers, Tomoyo's and Meilin's, ones that were slim clung to their bodies, and many others. The people gathered around each other chatting and mingling with each other with a small string band playing a soft tune in the corner. The door behind them slowly closed with a loud thump, which caused some eyes to rest on the small group that just entered. Sakura gripped Li's arm a little tighter as she felt the many eyes on them.

"Excuse me," a man with black hair and a long pointed nose said as he walked up to them. "May I see your invitations please." The group looked at each other at a loss.

"We were supposed to get invitations?" Li growled at Eriol as if it were his fault.

"This could be a problem," Eriol muttered.

"Hey it's fine with me if get kicked out," Meilin shrugged. "I hate this place already."

"Your invitations please," the man pressed, his eyes filled with questioning. "If you don't have them, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave the premises this is a private party after all." From in front of her, Sakura heard Tomoyo let out a soft annoyed sigh.

"My mother invited us," Tomoyo said cheerfully. "But I'm afraid she neglected to give us invitations."

"Oh?" the man said with no belief in his voice. "And just who is your mother young lady?" Tomoyo sighed quietly again, and Sakura saw her grip on Eriol's arm tighten slightly.

"Sonomi Daidouji," Tomoyo answered. The man eyes widened to the size of melons as if he had just seen a ghost. His hands shook, and sweat instantly began to glisten his slightly bald head. He quickly stepped back and gave Tomoyo a frantic and very low bow.

"P-P-P-Please forgive me...I had no idea Lady Daidouji was bringing her daughter. Please allow me escort you and your guests to Lady Daidouji as a token of my deepest apologizes!"

"Please that won't be necessary..." Tomoyo started, but was cut off.

"No please I insist! This way. And I must announce your presence!" The man, who Sakura figured was a butler said franticly as he walked ahead of them.

"No please it would be better..." but Tomoyo's voice was lost in the butler's surprisingly loud voice.

"I now present Young Lady Tomoyo Daidouji and her guests!" The ballroom, which was filled the low buzz of chatter, suddenly fell completely silent, and all eyes were turned to Tomoyo and the others. The string band even stopped playing and tried to peek through the crowd of onlookers. The people quickly stepped out of the way, forming a path to the large sliver double doors on the other side of the ballroom. Sakura kept her eyes glued to her feet. The many eyes she felt on them felt like she was being burned all around her body, and looking back into their eyes would only make it worse.

"Sonomi Daidouji's daughter?" Sakura heard all around her as the guests whispered amongst themselves.

"Where has she been?"

"Who are those rough looking people she's with? Bodyguards?"

"I heard there's been some tension between her and her mother."

Sakura looked up and saw that the sliver double doors weren't getting any closer. She wanted nothing more than to get to the other side of the door as quickly as possible, not for her own sake, but for Tomoyo. She saw the dark-haired girl's hand become a fist, and knew that even though she was smiling, Sakura could tell there was a deep scowl inside of her best friend.

"What the hell is going on?" Meilin whispered to her. "What kind of influence does Daidouji have any way?"

"I really don't know," Sakura admitted.

"She's your best friend and you don't know about this?" Li muttered.

"I don't know the details or anything, but all I really know is that Tomoyo's family is rich. I don't know anything else because Tomoyo always seemed to get sad or upset whenever I brought it up so I stopped asking," Sakura answered.

"You did tell me once that she was the richest in your town," Li said as he looked around at the spectators around them. "But it looks like it's more than just your town."

"She told me once that if her family moved to my town they would be richest there," Sakura said.

"If her family moved...?" Meilin repeated. "You mean her mother and father don't live in your town?" Sakura shook her head. "What the hell is up with that?"

"I've met her mother a few times before, she and my mom were close friends. But now that I think about it...Tomoyo-chan never talks about or mentions her father, it must be complicated."

When Meilin just scoffed, and Li shrugged, Sakura figured the conversation was over for now. She felt bad about telling Li and Meilin. It really wasn't her place to go shooting off something her best friend would probably want to keep private. But Sakura didn't know much to tell in the first place, and Li and Meilin did seem genuinely interested. But at the same time Li, Eriol, and Meilin never told her or Tomoyo about their pasts. But all throughout her conversation with Li and Meilin, Tomoyo never showed any signs of discomfort, or wanting Sakura to stop, so either she did not mind, or was she really upset, and just didn't want to show it. Sakura let out a quiet sigh, either way she couldn't take it back, she just hoped that Tomoyo's feelings were the former.

"Tomoyo-chan, Sakura-chan!" a voice called. The group looked up and saw Sonomi coming to meet them. She wore a slim dark violet dress that sparkled as much the jewelry around them. A shawl of a similar color was draped around her arms, and she held an expensive looking blue and black fan. Sonomi walked past the butler and approached the group with a smile.

"I'm so glad you could make it."

"The choice wasn't optional," Tomoyo muttered under her breath.

"What was that Tomoyo?" Sonomi asked amicably, but a stern look crossed her eyes, Tomoyo looked away, then looked back with a smile.

"Nothing mother, we're glad that you have invited us."

"Yes thank you Ms. Daidouji," Eriol said bowing. The others followed suit. Sonomi giggled, and turned around.

"Your welcome. Now come, dinner will get cold if we all stand around like this." At the mention of food, Kero popped out of Eriol's pocket.

"Yeah let's go!" As they once again made their way to the large double sliver doors, the whispering around them started again. But one look from Sonomi silenced everyone in the room. Sakura was amazed at the presence Sonomi had as she made her way to the double doors, the look in her eyes just daring anyone to say anything. When they were a few feet from the double doors, the people began to go back to their conversations, and the music began to play again. The doors slowly opened, and Li looked over his shoulder at the people who started to slowly returned to how they were before.

Inside that throng of people laid some kind of assassin, Li was sure of it. The moment they walked into the ballroom Li had been sensing a very determined killing intent, more than one. But the problem was, they were hidden so well Li couldn't tell where or who they were. He could tell these were professionals, but the odd thing was, this was same kind of concealment as the bodyguards that surrounded him that afternoon. How was it that bodyguards and assassins knew the same technique? He could understand why an assassin would pick up such a high level of aura concealment, but for bodyguards it seemed unnecessary. What was going on?

OOOOO

The room behind the double sliver doors was much smaller than the ballroom. In fact this room was much more private. In the center was a long rectangular table filled with steaming food, expensive silverware, and two sets of golden candles in the center. A golden chandelier shone from above, and rich red rug with a brown design on the floor. On the left end of the small room was a large window that led to a balcony that overlooked the forest at the back of the mansion. On the right end of was a roaring fire place that added additional dim light to the already heavily lit room. Seated at the table were three men of various ages.

The first man was an old man with a large bald spot that was surrounded by a small ring of thin gray hair. His gray mustache curled down towards the ends of his mouth and ended where his medium sized gray bread began. His wrinkled old face curled into a smile as he saw Tomoyo and the others enter with Sonomi.

The second man was a middle aged man with short graying black hair. He ran his hand across his short black mustache as his brown eyes looked over the group along with Sonomi. He wore black robes more fitting of a monk than a man in high society.

The last one was a young man in his twenties. His long black hair cascaded down his shoulders near the center of his back. His feet were on the table, and his hands behind his head in a bored, casual fashion. He wore a thick blue gi with a black belt tied around his waist. His black eyes looked at Tomoyo with mild interest, but for the most part, he had the look of someone who wanted to be anywhere but here. A look that Tomoyo could easily sympathize with. Propped up against the right arm of his chair was a samurai katana.

"Sonomi, and Young Tomoyo," the old man said as he inclined his head in greeting. "Such a pleasure to see you both again after such a long time."

"Hello Mr. Magimura," Tomoyo greeted with a bow.

"You've certainly got yourself some interesting company," the middle aged man chuckled as he scanned the group. His eyes seemed to linger on Li, who returned the gaze.

"Greetings to you too Mr. Yurito."

"Yeah, yeah, it's nice to see you," the young man said lazily, earning a glare from Magimura.

"So good to see you as well Little Jotaro," Tomoyo said with sly smile.

"Stop calling me that!" Jotaro yelled, almost knocking himself over. "Bitch," he added under his breath, which earned him a heated glare from Sonomi this time.

"Please, please sit down, you and your guests," Magimura said as he motioned to the empty seats. Sonomi took the seat at the far end of the table, Sakura and Tomoyo took the two seats on the left, next to Yurito, and Li, Eriol, and Meilin taking the seats on the right, with Li next to Jotaro. Eriol could already tell, from the way the two looked at each other, they wouldn't get along, at all.

"And just who might you be young lady?" Yurito asked Sakura with a bright smile.

"Uh...Sakura Kinomoto," she answered, her face getting a little red.

"Ah! So you're Nadeshiko daughter!" Sakura's eyes widened.

"You knew my mom!" Yurito gave a deep hearty laugh.

"Of course I did! The three of us could never forget her! A shame she had to go and get married though," the middle aged man sighed. "Such a beautiful woman, and I don't just mean her face." A small but perverted grin crossed his lips as he hands went to his cheeks, his eyes clearly somewhere else. At that moment a knife whizzed by the middle aged man's face, almost taking an entire section of his nose. Yurito snapped back into his chair, his breath caught in his throat.

"Pervert," Sonomi muttered.

"Geez Sonomi! One day you really might kill me!" Yurito exclaimed. Sonomi just scoffed and took a sip of the wine in her glass.

"And who are you three?" Jotaro asked lazily, keeping a weary eye on Li, but Li wasn't looking at the young man, his attention was on the knife Sonomi had just thrown. She was a good distance away from Yurito, and the knife, as he had quietly observed, was quite heavy, and bulky. And yet, Tomoyo's mother had thrown it so fast it almost seemed like it was blur. Not only that but she had thrown it in a complete straight line and with such precise accuracy. The knife was now embedded in the table up to the center of the handle, just barely past Yurito's arm. If a normal person had thrown it, the knife would have been clumsy in the air, and most likely completely miss by many miles or stop extremely short of the middle aged man. But she had thrown in fast and close enough for it to look like a deadly throw, but still miss. That was something no normal high society woman could do.

"Hey I asked you a question!" Jotaro growled, snapping Li out of his thoughts. "Who are you!"

"I should be asking you the same question," Li said back his voice low and annoyed.

"What was that...!" Jotaro growled, his hand fingering the handle of his sword.

"They're old friends," Sonomi answered before the situation became too heated. "Magimura was one of Tomoyo's home teachers, and he taught me a while back as well. Yurito is a monk who I've befriended, and Jotaro is Yurito's son, and Magimura's grandson. Their family has been friends with ours for a long time."

"And who the hell are these three?!" Jotaro growled, his eyes still on Li.

"Those are Tomoyo's friends from school I told you about. Eriol, Meilin, and Li." Yurito, and Magimura's eyebrows furrowed at the name Li, but it was only for a split second.

"School?" Meilin muttered. Li raised his eyebrow in confusion as well. Eriol just went with it.

"Yes, yes, yes," the doctor nodded. "Tomoyo received an invitation from her mother in the mail a few weeks ago, and we just had to come. It has been a while since she's seen her mother, it being a boarding school and all."

"So what do you specialize in?" Jotaro asked Li. "Ms. Sonomi tells me that your school is for teaching children different kinds of skills to make them useful for lords and the like, or in Tomoyo's case, make them more effective leaders. So what do you specialize in?"

"Art," Li answered without hesitation. Eriol had to drop his head as if he had just sneezed to keep himself from bursting out laughing. Tomoyo covered her mouth to hide her large grin, and Sakura and Meilin just started to laugh. The image of Li staring intently at a canvas, and swinging a brush around like his sword was too funny to ignore.

"A shame, you go the eyes of a fighter."

"You have no idea," Li muttered.

"Well shall we dig in? The food will get cold if we waste our mouths talking," Magimura suggested. Soon there was clinking of silverware as everyone began to eat. Sakura looked down at the table. A sliver plate was in the center of a rich silk napkin with three forks on the left. The tallest in the center, and two small ones on each side. On the right was a sharp knife, two short spoons, one long spoon, and another short fork. Needles to say Sakura was at loss. She looked up and saw Meilin was having trouble as well. Li, Eriol, and Tomoyo had already started to eat.

"T-Tomoyo-chan," Sakura whispered. "Which one is which!"

"Salad Fork, Dinner Fork, Dessert Fork, Dinner Knife, two teaspoons, Soup spoon, and an extra fork," Tomoyo identified without second thought.

"Ah, so I use the dinner fork right now right?"

"Right Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said with a smile. "Although I know you would have figured it out eventually." After Sakura quietly passed her new knowledge to Meilin, dinner turned out to be very pleasant, unlike the carriage ride. Magimura and Yurito were nice and friendly people, laughing, and smiling. Sakura wanted to ask them about her mother, but she never got the chance, she was too busy thinking up stories to cover for Sonomi's story that Tomoyo has been in a boarding school all this time, and they were her friends. That and she and Eriol were making sure Li and Jotaro didn't kill each other.

Overall it was a nice, quiet, pleasant meal, but Sakura found a few things odd. First, neither of the two men seemed to want to talk to Sonomi at the moment, it was as if she wasn't there at all. And second, Magimura and Yurito seemed to ignore Li all together. They only really talked to her, Eriol, Meilin and sometimes Tomoyo. When Yurito did glance at Li every now and then he would shoot him a glare, and Sonomi seemed to do them same. Sakura remembered that Sonomi also did that during the carriage ride. What did they have against Li? She wanted to ask, but knew it would be better for everyone if she held her tongue.

"That was nice," Magimura said with a satisfied sigh. He then turned to Tomoyo and the others. "Why don't you kids go enjoy the party while we have a little talk with Sonomi here."

"Back out there huh?" Meilin muttered as she looked over her shoulder to the sliver double doors. The group stood and started to exit. As the doors closed behind them Li looked over his shoulder and heard a part of what sounded like a serious conversation.

"The signs have been troubling Sonomi," Magimura said, his voice deep and concerned. "Five in only two weeks! And that can only mean we're the next targets!" The doors closed with a low thump, and all Li could hear were muffled voices.

"Well then," Eriol said as he looked over the large crowd of people. "Shall we mingle?"

OOOOO

Outside of the mansion three large carriages approached the house. The guards posted at the door walked up to convoy, and stopped the leader, whose face was covered by the dark.

"State your business," one ordered as they pointed their spears.

"We are merely brining supplies and food as we were requested," the leader answered simply. The guard leader motioned for a couple of his men to search the carriages.

"I hope you don't mind if we search the carriages." The leader let out a dark smirk.

"Actually I do...!"

At that moment blood filled the air.

OOOOO

Li sat at one of the tables as he watched the party unfold. He saw Eriol talking up four girls while keeping an eye out for others he could charm as well. Kero was flying around picking up whatever sweets he could find.

"Sakura-chan! Tomoyo-chan!" Sonomi called. She had come out of the room an hour ago, and was conversing with many of the people there. It seemed as if there was always a large ring of people around Sonomi making it impossible for Tomoyo to speak to her mother, not that she wanted to in the first place from what he saw. But that didn't stop Sonomi from dragging her daughter and her best friend into the center of the ring.

"Yes mother?" Tomoyo asked pleasantly.

"You simply must meet these people," she said as she motioned to a section of the large ring. "This my daughter Tomoyo and her friend Sakura Kinomoto, they've been at boarding school..." Li looked away and stared at Meilin who pushed her way through to the table where he was sitting.

"God damn I hate this cor-whatever!!" she cried and she twitched endlessly. "I can barely breathe!"

"How do you think I feel," Li muttered, as he looked over to the sliver double doors. The three men inside never came out.

"Hey let's dance!"

"No."

"Why not!"

"You know I hate dancing."

"We're at party it only makes sense for us to dance! We are engaged after all!" Li let out a loud groan and slapped his forehead. He knew Meilin wouldn't give up until she got her way. So he decided to subside, sort of.

"Hey you!" Li called to the first young man he saw. "Dance with her."

"My pleasure!" With that Meilin was on her feet, and being dragged by the young man into the dancing area.

"Syaoran!" she yelled.

"Have fun!" he yelled back with a small chuckle.

OOOOO

Tomoyo walked out the balcony and let her hair down. It was difficult getting her hair into such an elaborate bun, and even more difficult maintaining it. She pulled off her moon earrings, it was getting annoying having them bounce against her neck every time she so much as walked. She slipped out of her heels, which were starting to hurt her feet, and pulled off her white gloves. Overall, she was sick of the entire image she putting up. For a brief moment she thought of jumping off the balcony and running into the forest. She sighed when she knew she wouldn't do it, and looked up at the crescent moon above instead.

"It's a beautiful moon, isn't it Tomoyo-san," Eriol said from behind her.

"Yes it is."

"What are you doing out here?" he asked he stood next to her.

"I needed some air is all," she answered with a smile. "And a break..." she added softly. "You?"

"I needed some air myself."

"What about that large group of girls you were talking to? Won't they be disappointed at your disappearance?"

"I guess so," Eriol shrugged. A silence passed between them as Tomoyo fiddled with the earrings and gloves in her hand. She felt like just throwing them over into the forest, along with the tight corset under her dress.

"Tomoyo-san," Eriol said suddenly. "You hate parties like this don't you."

"What makes you say that?" she asked with a smile. "I'm having a wonderful time."

"Which is why you all but ran out here once you were out of your mother's eyesight," Eriol replied. "You hate being here don't you." Tomoyo let out a sigh as she looked away, and stared at nothing particular. She sighed again, knowing she was caught.

"Yes," she admitted. "I'd rather be in one of Mindfreak's illusions than here."

"R-Really..." Eriol said in disbelief as his glasses slipped to the tip of his nose in shock. "You hate this place so much..! Why?"

"I don't really know how to explain it," Tomoyo said softly as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear, and leaned against the railing. "It's just that the people in there, including my mother, are so fake. They don't believe a word they're saying to each other, and are only here just to get connections, they only care about themselves and their position, it's disgusting."

"Tomoyo-san..."

"Lady Tomoyo," a voice said from inside. It was one of Sonomi's blond haired bodyguards. "Please pardon my interruption, but your mother wishes to see you on the fifth floor." Tomoyo sighed and slipped back on her slippers, gloves, and earrings, but kept her hair down, and followed the bodyguard.

They left the ballroom, and went up the winding steps she, Sakura and Meilin came down from. As they passed the third floor Tomoyo noticed a rather large man pass them and head for the front door. She thought for sure that her mother only had female bodyguards. She figured he must have been a bodyguard for a person in the ballroom. But that still didn't explain why he was on the third floor. Tomoyo just shrugged and decided to think about it later. When they reached the fifth floor, the bodyguard led Tomoyo through one of many doors on the floor. The door opened to reveal a long 20 yard corridor with oaken doors on each side of the walls going down. At the end of the long corridor was a single door which the bodyguard opened for her.

The room was small, the only pieces of furniture in it were a single desk, and two chairs in front of it. Sonomi looked up from a letter she was reading, and set down the cup of tea she was drinking.

"Ah Tomoyo," she greeted pleasantly. "Please sit down." Tomoyo sat down silently and kept her eyes on the cup.

"What is it you wanted to see me about," she asked softly.

"I see you wish to get straight to the point," Sonomi said as she took another sip.

"That would be preferable, I would like to spend as little time here than necessary," Tomoyo replied, still not looking at her mother.

"Fine, fair enough." Sonomi set down the cup, and looked straight at her daughter. "I assume you received the letter I sent to you this morning. I sent it with a delivery hawk."

"I'm afraid I never got it," Tomoyo said, neglecting to tell her mother that she had crumpled up the letter the moment she saw it from her.

"What? Are you sure. Those hawks never fail! And I promised Fujitaka it would deliver his lunches as well."

"I guess the hawk became lost." Sonomi just groaned.

"Anyway it doesn't matter. Basically what the letter said was, after this party..." she paused, making Tomoyo twitch in frustration.

"Yes..." she pushed.

"I want you and Sakura to come back home with me. And I mean _your_ home." Tomoyo's eyes widened. In the back of her mind she expected this, but actually hearing it made her feel worse than she could imagine.

"And may I ask why?" Tomoyo asked, her voice calm, but her body shaking.

"You are 16 now, you'll be 17 in a month, you are the perfect age to begin to learn your role as the new head of the Daidouji family." Tomoyo grimaced. "Besides, the people you are running around with are dangerous! Especially that Li boy!"

"How can you say that when you've only met them today!" Tomoyo exclaimed, finally losing control of her emotions. After keeping them bottled up for almost the entire day, her feelings were spilling out. "You have no idea how much I've learned from them! What I've learned from them is much more important to me than learning how to talk up a crowd of fickle and selfish people!"

"You don't know what you're talking about Tomoyo!" Sonomi yelled back, losing control as well. "You have an important role in this family whether you like it or not!"

"I don't care about that at all! I want to keep traveling! Why can't you understand that!"

"I'm doing this to protect you Tomoyo! Those people are dangerous!"

"Well they're actually there for me!!!" Tomoyo all but screamed. Sonomi looked as if she had been slapped in the face. Tomoyo also seemed shocked at her own outburst, but the rebellious look in her eyes told Sonomi she wasn't going to take back what she said. It came from the deepest depths of her heart. The mother and daughter stayed nose to nose for another minute before they sat back down, calming themselves.

"Regardless of how you feel, that is my decision," Sonomi declared after almost ten minutes of silence between them.

"And I refuse to accept that decision," Tomoyo shot back, and stood up.

"Tomoyo!" her mother called at her. "Think about the future of the clan! Think about the family!"

"If you knew or actually cared to know about what I want for _my_ future," Tomoyo said with her back to her mother. "You'd know that neither you or the clan are apart of it." And with that she sprinted out of the room, knocking down the bodyguard in the process.

"Tomoyo!" Sonomi let out a frustrated sigh when she realized that she wasn't coming back. She knew that her daughter had a rebellious seed within her, but she had no idea it had sprouted so fiercely.

"That girl," she muttered under breath. "She cares more about her freedom than anything else. Like I was a long time ago." The woman thought, and shook her head.

"No she's not like me at all, rather, she's more like her father." With a sigh, Sonomi stood up and went to help the bodyguard to her feet.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," she said as she extended her hand. "Here let me help you up." The bodyguard took Sonomi's hand, and gripped it tightly, too tightly, almost like a death grip. Sonomi winced, and was suddenly pulled down as the bodyguard got up.

The next thing Sonomi knew, her arm was twisted behind her back, trapped in the bodyguard's death grip, and a kunai was inches away from her neck.

"Good evening Ms. Daidouji," the bodyguard giggled. "I'm not sure what just happened, but it's never good for a mother and daughter to argue like that."

"Who-who the hell are you!" Sonomi growled, but winced when she felt the woman's grip tighten. The blond hair the bodyguard had seemed to melt away, and gave way to long red hair tied in two curly high pigtails. Her cold blues eyes looked at Sonomi with amusement.

"I am Yuka, and I'll be killing you tonight."

OOOOO

Tomoyo let out an angry sigh as she leaned against a wall on the third floor. She hardly ever became angry, and almost never yelled like she had done before, but her mother always seemed to press the right buttons, whether she knew it or not. She could still feel her blood pumping with anger, and her body shaking. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. She knew if she went downstairs like this Sakura would get worried, something she wanted to avoid more than anything.

She looked up to see the large bodyguard she saw before walking up the stairs. He wore a light black cloak and black pants, she didn't get a good look at his face before, and still couldn't tell now, it was too dim.

But it was still bright enough to see the large rock sized fist heading her way.

Tomoyo dove to the side just time to see the first completely destroy the wall. The large wall was reduced to nothing but small rocks, and Tomoyo could tell there was a lot more than that in this man's arsenal when he threw off his cloak to reveal his mountain sized chest, and boulder sized muscles.

"Sonomi Daidouji's daughter. It's a pleasure to meet you," the man said in a deep voice. "I am Brouji. Learn the name of the one who will send you the next world!"

And with that the muscle man threw another punch.

OOOOO

"They certainly brought a lot of guys for this," Meilin said as she looked around. Minutes earlier the golden double doors had burst open, and countless rough looking men ran into the ballroom. The odd thing was, the men ran and encircled only Li, Eriol, Meilin, and Sakura. The rest of the people ran out screaming in terror.

"It must be maybe 100, 110 with them," Li figured as he counted. "A lot of people for just us."

"This isn't good," Eriol said worriedly. "Tomoyo-san and her mother aren't here. And who knows where else these guys are."

"Sakura, stuffed animal, go find and defend Tomoyo and her mother, we'll handle these guys," Li ordered. Sakura nodded.

"You sure you can fight in a tuxedo?" Eriol asked with a smile. "You were fidgeting and complaining so much."

"Yeah, I'll just think of it as training," Li replied with a smirk. "Right Meilin?"

"Right! Bring 'em on!" she yelled as she cracked her knuckles.

"Sakura-san, when they attack, we'll make a path for you. Tomoyo-san is on the fifth floor, so you'll have to hurry," Eriol instructed.

"Right, get ready Kero-chan!"

"Gotcha!"

"Enough whispering!" the leader yelled. "Get them!!!!!!" The ring of men rushed towards the four of them in a fury. Eriol clapped his hands together and slammed them on the ground, making the floor mud, slowing down the charge.

"Sakura go!!!" Li yelled. Without another word, Sakura sprinted out the door. Once she was gone, Eriol released the spell.

"It's really too bad," Meilin chuckled as the men repositioned themselves to charge again. "Even with this damn dress and corset, you'd need at least two thousand more people to bring us down!"

"Shall we play the game again?" Eriol suggested. Li just shrugged.

"Oh yeah!" Meilin agreed as she shifted into a stance. "3"

"2," Eriol counted down.

"1."

"GO!!!!!!" And with that all three sprinted at the opponents.

OOOOO

"We have to hurry Kero-chan!" Sakura exclaimed. "Tomoyo-chan and her mother could be in real danger!" The second Sakura turned the corner to go up the stairs something whizzed past her face, just barely missing her eyes. Sakura looked up and saw a young woman wearing a black cloak with dark blue hair in a high ponytail descend from the stairs. A longbow in one hand, and quiver filled with arrows.

"I'm afraid your friend will have to wait," the woman said as she notched another arrow, and pointed it straight at Sakura. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Kuriko. Don't worry I'll make sure you meet your friend again, in hell."

The next thing Sakura knew an arrow was inches away from her forehead.

AN: Man this chapter murder!!!! Sorry for the delay, but this chapter was harder to write than I thought. First, I really couldn't figure out what I wanted them to do at the party. I couldn't think of anything interesting. I wanted to make them dance, but that only took up less than page. Then I thought of having Meilin as sort of a fish out of water, but I decided against it for some reason. Then there was the writer's block in terms of how to get them in their current fight situations. Then came Sonomi and Tomoyo. I really tried to keep them in character as much as possible, but as you can see near the end I was like "Aw screw it! It's for the story." Lazy I know, but if I had kept trying this chapter wouldn't be up for another month or so! It's just that I can't really see Tomoyo in CCS yelling at anyone, but as I was writing the last scene between Tomoyo and Sonomi I just stopped trying. And finally came the whole historical accuracy thing. I doubt in whatever era they're in they had slim modern style dresses, and boarding schools. But once again I said to myself "Screw it!" Overall this chapter was murder, but thankfully next chapter won't be, it's a fight chapter, my favorite kind of chapter! (I'm sure you all realize this by now). So it won't take me as long, mostly because I've had these fights in my head for a while, and have them all planned out. So anyway here's the preview for the next chapter. See ya! Remember to R&R!

_Tomoyo: This isn't good, how can I fight someone so powerful! Eriol-kun never covered this in my training! _

_Sakura: While Tomoyo-chan tries to keep Brouji at bay, Kero and I have our hands full with Kuriko who proves to be much more than just a good archer! _

_Meilin: And while they do that, Li, Eriol and I beat the crap out of these weak foot soldiers! _

_Sakura: Huh? What about Tomoyo's mother? I don't know, you'll just have to catch the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels: "Fight Party" see you then! _


	69. Fight Party

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 69

The arrow whizzed towards Sakura with a speed she never thought possible. It was inches from her forehead before suddenly, she was hoisted into the air by a strong force allowing the arrow to impale into the wall behind her. She looked up and saw she was in the jaws of Kero in his beast form.

"Thanks Kero-chan." At that moment Kero quickly banked to the left narrowly avoiding an arrow that would have pierced his right wing. Another arrow shot towards them, this time it was covered with a dark blue light that made Kero feel uneasy. The beast quickly opened his mouth to blast it away, but quickly realized his mistake, when he heard Sakura scream as she dropped.

"Oh shit! Sakura!" The second the beast turned his head, the arrow made a direct hit with his shoulder, knocking him through the wall and into the forest below.

"Kero-chan!"

"Keep your eyes on your opponent Sakura-san!" At that moment Sakura received a strong kick to her stomach that knocked her through the window, and into the forest as well. Kuriko just scoffed as she watched the two fall. The thought of killing them quickly bored her, and she knew that Yuka wouldn't need any back up, so she decided to play with them for a little while.

"Besides," she chuckled out loud as she jumped out the window. "I've knocked them into my playground. I can't pass up the fun int that."

OOOOO

Li dodged a thrust from a knife, and threw the attacker over his shoulder, while slamming a strong kick into one that rushed towards him. Fighting in a tuxedo was proving more troublesome than he believed. The suit was so stiff that it caused his punches to be two inches shorter than normal, and he couldn't kick to the neck or head. In fact the highest he could kick was stomach level. Not only that, but the bow tie limited the movement in his head, so he could barely look over his shoulder. He let out a growl as he dodged several attacks from nine attackers. The shoes were a size too small, which decreased his speed.

"Having trouble Syaoran?" Eriol chuckled as he slammed a punch into an attacker's face.

"Not at all," Li smirked as he jumped, and kicked one into the rest. "Like I said, it's all training."

"Well, your adapting easier than Meilin," the doctor laughed, dodging several punches, and knife thrusts all the while. Li looked over his shoulder, and saw Meilin thrust out her leg into a kick, but stumbled backwards into a hard blow to her head with a staff, knocking her to the ground instantly with twenty men closing in on her.

"Need some help Meilin-chan?" Eriol called. At that moment, the twenty men were all blown away by Meilin twirling on her hands, and her legs spinning around like a helicopter.

"Shut up!" she yelled as she flipped to her feet, but stumbled because of the heels. "You try fighting in a damn corset! I can barely breathe dammit!"

"Yet she still has enough air to yell," Li muttered.

"I don't think she'll ever run out of air for that," Eriol chuckled.

"Plus I can barely walk in these stupid heels! Let alone kick!"

"Well you'll have plenty of time to adapt," Eriol said as he looked at the seemingly endless number of combatants that extended all around the ballroom.

"They have enough men here to form a medium sized army," Li noted. "Who the hell would send this amount of men for just us?"

"And they are certainly hell-bent on keeping us away from the door to help Sakura-san, Tomoyo-san, and Sonomi-san," Eriol added.

"Who cares at this point. All we need to do is beat the crap out of them, and then question whoever survives," Meilin said with a confident smirk. Li and Eriol just sighed, but nodded at her reasoning. There was no point in wasting breath against men who were determined to carry out their orders. And it would be easier to pry information out of survivors who were half dead already.

"Fine, we'll do it your way Meilin," Li said as he shifted into a stance.

"Just don't hurt too many too badly, we still need information," Eriol warned. Meilin just scoffed.

"Come on, when have I not listened to you guys?" The two boys just sighed again, and returned attention to their attackers.

"Get those bastards!!!!" the leader yelled, and the horde charged in like a stampede of elephants.

OOOOO

Tomoyo let out a yelp as she stepped on the long skirt of her dress, and fell flat to the floor. But she quickly appreciated her fall when the tree thick arm of Brouji passed over her, and completely destroyed another wall. The dark-haired girl quickly got to her feet, and ran as fast she could towards the stairs.

"I can't believe I am the one who must kill this pathetic little girl," Brouji growled in frustration as he stomped towards Tomoyo. "But orders are orders." Tomoyo was just a few inches away from the stairs when she tripped on her skirt again, and almost fell over the banister of the stairs. But that gave Brouji enough time to stalk behind her.

"Oh no," she gasped. Her body started to shake, and her foot inched towards the edge of the banister.

"Accept your fate young Daidouji. I promise to make it quick." His large boulder sized hands gripped Tomoyo's small shoulders, ready to throw her over the stairs, but quickly pulled back when he felt something sharp stab into his left hand. It was a kunai impaled deep in his palm. He looked at Tomoyo with annoyance in his eyes as pulled out the small kunai.

"I refuse to allow myself to die at your hands," Tomoyo said bitterly as she backed away from the large man, only to have her back hit the banister behind her. Brouji smirked.

"And what will you do young Daidouji? You have no chance against me, and the only thing separating you from falling to your death is that banister behind you. Face it, there is no escape." Tomoyo just smiled as she reached behind her to grab the banister, and slowly slipped out of her heels.

"I beg to differ." And with that Tomoyo whirled around, and jumped over the railing with a long drop, and many hard descending spiral stairs waiting for her below. She quickly pulled out her small golden bell, and shot a line of thread upwards, wrapping it around the banister, slowing her fall. Tomoyo stopped inches above the stairs with sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness I used the bells to hold up my hair," she said to herself as she unwrapped the thread and ran down the stairs.

"She's more interesting than I thought," Brouji muttered, and followed after Tomoyo.

OOOOO

Sonomi gritted her teeth in pain as her right arm was held in a tight steel like grip of Yuka. She could have sworn she heard a few bones in her wrist crack, and her right shoulder wasn't liking her arm twisted behind her back. Yuka inched her kunai closer to Sonomi's neck with a twisted smirk.

"I'm disappointed Sonomi," she said as the kunai came closer. "I can't believe how easy it was to catch you by surprise, especially when I've heard so many stories about you from my master."

"Who the hell are you people?" Sonomi asked through gritted teeth, her eyes fixed on the kunai.

"I'm disappointed yet again. You don't even know who I am, you really have lost your edge. I don't even think I'll spare you an answer." Sonomi tried to break out of the hold, but Yuka's grip was so tight that Sonomi could barely feel her fingers. The assassin laughed as she watched the woman's silent efforts.

"It's useless to struggle. My grip is the strongest of our master's assassins, and even if you do manage to break free, well let's just say you won't be celebrating your victory for long," Yuka inches the kunai closer to Sonomi's neck for emphasis.

"Damn it," the woman growled.

"You have two choices either you relax, and let me finish it quickly, or you could fight back, and force to use the painfully slow method. Your choice." A wave of tension passed through Sonomi, making her body all but freeze, but just as quickly the woman relaxed as if nothing was happening.

"I think I have a third choice," she said softly as she slipped her right foot back slightly.

"You don't have a third choice!" Sonomi just smirked.

"Actually I think I do." At that moment Sonomi fired her left elbow into Yuka's stomach four times, making the young girl double over in pain. The second Sonomi felt her grip loosen, she yanked her arm out of her grip, grabbed Yuka's kunai arm with both hands, and threw the young girl across the room. Yuka hit the ground flat with a loud yelp as the wind was knocked out of her, and for a brief moment felt her entire body go numb.

"That was my third choice," Sonomi said as she massaged her right arm. "Not allowing myself to be killed by a clueless rookie like yourself." Yuka fiercely got to her feet, and flicked her wrists, making five kunai appear in both her hands.

"You dare call me a clueless rookie!" she yelled. Sonomi just scoffed as she straightened her hair like nothing was happening.

"What's the matter, upset because it's true?" she said simply. Yuka let out a loud growl before throwing all the kunai in her left hand. Sonomi simply held up her hand and caught all five of the projectiles in between her fingers with no effort at all.

"What the-!" Yuka exclaimed, surprised at the woman's sudden skill.

"You've succeeded in one thing though," Sonomi said as she tossed the kunai away. "You've got my attention." Yuka looked surprised for a moment before a smirk crossed her lips.

"So you haven't lost your edge at all, you were just toying with me until now."

"You could call it that if you want."

"Whatever, not that it really matters anyway. I was holding back myself, and I've done more than enough research on you to know how to finish you off!" the young assassin said as she shifted into a stance. "By the time this night is over, I'll be known as the one who killed the infamous Sonomi Daidouji!"

"Such ambition," the woman said with a scoff. "Unfortunately for you, at this level you couldn't kill me even if I lost the use of all my limbs."

"That doesn't really matter. Even by the off chance that you do manage to defeat me, there are still two other expert assassins, and an entire horde of thugs waiting for you downstairs. It's impossible for you, your daughter or her friends to escape alive!" Sonomi barely batted an eyelash at this new information.

"You and your master are certainly going through a lot of trouble just to kill me and a bunch of kids," she said simply.

"Well the master told us that of all the ones on our list, you're the one we can't afford to underestimate. Then we heard from an outside source that your daughter's friends could prove to be troublesome, so the master sent over some, insurance."

"Outside source? Who? And what is this list?" Yuka smirked slyly.

"That is none of your concern."

"Trust me, I know many extremely painful ways to make you talk, so for own sake answer my questions."

"Like I said it's none of your concern, you'll be dead in a few minutes away. But if your so curious, I'll tell you that the other two assassins are the best in the master's service."

"Really. That's quite the statement."

"The archer Kuriko is so precise, she's able to pin a fly to a tree without killing it. And our brawler Brouji is able to crush a boulder with one hand. Your daughter and her friends are doomed!" Sonomi lowered her head, a soft low chuckle escaped her lips that soon turned into a full blown fit of laughter. Yuka scowled at her target's actions.

"What's so damn funny!" she demanded. Sonomi regained control of herself, answered with her voice still chuckling.

"Do you actually believe that precision, power, and weapons makes you the best. Think again you clueless fool!"

"Silence! You don't seem to realize the situation you're right now! You're life and the lives of your daughter and her friends are in our hands now!" Sonomi straightened her hair again and casually cracked her knuckles.

"You're the one who doesn't realize it," she said simply. "You're completely out of your league little girl. Leave now, and call off your comrades and I'll promise not to kill you." It was Yuka's turn to laugh as she held up her kunai.

"Let's just see how true that statement is shall we?" Sonomi just sighed as if she were about to do a troublesome chore.

"Fine we'll do it your way then. Just be warned this could be the last moments of your life," the woman said as she shifted into a stance.

"I was about to say the same thing!" With that said Yuka charged.

OOOOO

"Sakura to the left!" Keroberos yelled. Sakura looked to the left, and dove forward when she saw three arrows whiz towards her head. She quickly got to her feet, and fired a blast of wind where the arrows came from, but their was no response. At that moment Kero dashed towards her, and tackled her to the ground, causing five arrows to barely graze her hair.

"Thanks Kero-chan." Suddenly another set of arrows whistled through the air towards them. Sakura rolled backwards, and sprang to her feet, barely avoiding the arrows again. It had been like this ever since Kuriko had knocked her and Kero into the forest. The trees were tall, and close together blocking the sky, and the light provided by the moon and stars. Sakura could barely see the golden fur of Kero, and could barely make out the outline of her own hand. This all worked to Kuriko's favor.

At first to Sakura it seemed easy. Once Kuriko fired her arrows, Sakura thought she would be able to tell where the archer was based on where the arrows came from, but she quickly buried that thought. The arrows seemed to come from any random direction, one second they would come from the left, then suddenly the right, above, or behind, there was no pattern or any kind of logic behind the arrows that she and Kero could pick up on. To make matters worse, the two for some reason could not sense the archer either.

Five arrows burst from the bushes from behind Sakura, who quickly jumped into the air, and fired a blast into the bushes, but there was no one there. The second she landed six shot towards her from the right. The young girl shot her hands forward and blew the arrows back. She looked behind her and saw Kero blasting fire at another set that came towards him. She gritted her teeth in frustration, they weren't getting anywhere like this. Tomoyo and Sonomi probably needed them right now, and they were suck here.

"Doesn't this girl run out of arrows?" Kero growled after he burned up another set. "It's been like this for over ten minutes! She should be out by now!" At that moment one arrow shot out from the trees towards Kero's back. Sakura's eyes widened when she sensed the powerful aura radiating from it, if it hit Kero it would finish him for sure.

"Kero-chan look out!" she yelled, and blew the beast out of the way. When the arrow hit the ground a large explosion rocked the area blowing Kero and Sakura back almost 50 feet. Sakura rolled on her shoulders, and quickly sprung back to her feet, her ears ringing from the explosion. She looked around her, but didn't see Kero around anywhere, she was about to call for him when a sharp pain shot into her left shoulder that knocked her to her feet. The young girl looked and saw an arrow embedded deep in her shoulder. She tried to pull it out, but the pain was so sharp and unbearable that she decided to just leave it.

Another six shot out from in front of her, Sakura quickly jumped in the air, only to be shot down by three arrows entering her back. She collided with the ground with a loud THUD, and got up with a groan. The arrows weren't in very deep, but they were still hurting her. She reached over her shoulder to pull out one of the arrows, but at that moment, an arrow shot out heading straight for her forehead. Sakura panicked, and dove under the arrow, and rolled back to her feet.

"You move pretty good," Kuriko's cold voice rang out. Sakura looked around her, but the voice was echoing throughout the forest, making it impossible to figure out where she was. "But it's only a matter of time before you run out of energy, then I'll finish you."

"You'll run out of arrows before I run out of energy!" Sakura yelled back, surprised that she could still hear because of the ringing in her ears. Kuriko just scoffed.

"You'll run out of energy sooner than you think. Those aren't ordinary arrows embedded in you." As if on cue, the arrows vibrated within her, making her vision blur, and her knees shake. Her stomach felt as if it was bouncing against her other organs, making her extremely nauseous. She clamped her hand over her mouth and collapsed to her knees, her eyes becoming very heavy.

"Wh-wh-what did you do...to...me...!" she slowly exclaimed, finding out that even forming a sentence was proving to be difficult.

"Those three arrows in your back are sapping your energy. In 30 minutes you'll be nothing more than a vegetable. Making it very easy for me to kill you." Sakura formed her staff, and propped it up to use it as a crutch. "Of course I could easily speed up the process by adding more arrows, but that would be boring, and I like to see my targets struggle."

Sakura gritted her teeth as she struggled to stand. Her legs were starting feel like two ton stones, and her fingers were slowly becoming stiff and numb. This was bad, Kuriko had every advantage in this fight. The archer knew exactly where Sakura was standing, and was clearly in a spot where she could move easily, and quickly change position if needed. Sakura could barely hear, she couldn't see well because of the darkness, couldn't sense where Kuriko was, and she could feel her movements slowing down greatly. At this rate she would be nothing but fodder for Kuriko. She gritted her teeth as she scanned the area, searching desperately for any sign of Kuriko's aura, but to no avail. She was very quickly getting nowhere.

"Tomoyo-chan and Sonomi-san need me, I have to finish this fast!" She reached over her shoulder to pull out one of the arrows, only to be met with a strong shock that knocked her face first to the ground.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. No pulling out the arrows, that wouldn't be any fun now would it?" The emerald eyed girl let out soft growl as she got to her wobbly feet and reached into her pocket. She quickly grabbed a card out of her pocket, and held it up.

"Woody! Part the dense trees!" However, even with the order in place, the card did not spring to life as usual. In fact the card did not respond at all, except for a very faint glow that quickly died away. "Wh-what?" Sakura held up the card again and repeated her command, but the card still didn't respond. She tried every variation of the command she could think of, but the card was not responding. After her fourth try, an arrow shot out of nowhere and collided with the young girl's left shoulder knocking her down flat.

"You fool!" Kuriko exclaimed with a loud echoing laugh. "Any form of elemental magic requires a large amount of energy! Energy that you don't have!" As Sakura struggled to her feet again, two more arrows shot towards her. The emerald eyed girl rolled to the side only to have another arrow collide with her right shoulder. Her reflexes and speed were getting worse.

"I can't use Woody or Watery," Sakura muttered to herself as she pulled herself up again. "And I can feel my powers slowly going down too. This is really bad!"

"I hope you don't run out of energy too soon because I plan to have so much fun with you."

OOOOO

Tomoyo all but jumped down three more stairs as she sprinted down the long stairwell. Just feet behind her was the massive assassin Brouji. Her heart pounded roughly against her chest, and her bare feet slapped against the cool stone of the stairs as she ran down while holding the skirt of her dress practically up to her hips to run faster. The dark-haired girl looked up and saw the assassin standing at the top of the set of stairs she had just descended.

"I grow tired of this game," he growled. "I will not chase you around the entire mansion."

"Aw why not?" Tomoyo replied in mock disappointment. "I thought we were having so much fun!"

"I have much better things to do than play your games young Daidouji. Now prepare yourself for the last thing you'll see in this world!" With that Brouji took two deep breaths through his nose, and mouth, and expanded his chest to the point where Tomoyo thought that he would burst. His cheeks puffed as if he were about to throw up, and his muscles tensed.

"What is he doing?" Tomoyo thought out loud. But her question was answered seconds later.

"Break Cannon!!!" At that moment a blue blast of pure ki fired from Brouji's mouth, and rocketed towards Tomoyo. The dark-haired girl jumped over the railing of the stairs, and fell past three floors before shooting out a thread and stopping herself. She looked up to see the entire fourth floor lost in a large and powerful blast that greatly damaged the third floor as well.

"So much power...!" she said in awe as she stared at the cloud of smoke that formed. "Did he get caught in that explosion?" She stared at the cloud of smoke and threw a large amount kunai into the smoke to make sure that Brouji was really gone. When there was no movement Tomoyo dropped from her thread, and landed in the corridor outside of the ballroom. "He killed himself to kill me?"

"I highly doubt that young Daidouji," a deep voice said from behind her. Before Tomoyo knew it, she was pinned against the wall with Brouji's monster-like hand holding her in place. She struggled with all her might to escape, but she couldn't so much as budge his pinky finger let alone his entire hand. The large man raised Tomoyo five feet before effortlessly throwing her over his shoulder like garbage. Tomoyo collided with the ground with a loud cry of pain as she felt a rib or two crack. Brouji grabbed her by the leg and threw her into the large double doors.

"St-stop," Tomoyo whimpered, her entire backside throbbing with pain. Brouji wrapped his large hand around her neck, and gave her a fierce jab to her stomach, making the dark-haired girl cough out a large amount of blood before her threw her to the ground again.

"No. I will not stop," he growled, and grabbed her by the hair. "You've caused me a large amount of trouble. I'm just returning the favor!" A hard slap knocked Tomoyo to the ground, her face feeling as if it had been struck by twenty boulders. Brouji came at her again, but Tomoyo quickly threw two kunai at the assassin, but Brouji just knocked them away with no effort. A kick to her side made Tomoyo. slide across the corridor, and slam her back against the stairs.

"P-please...stop," she whispered barely being able to stand.

"I am going to enjoy this Daidouji," he chuckled as he wrapped both hands around her neck and held her up. "Any last words before I snap your neck?" A tear slid down Tomoyo's face as her body began to shake. Her hands thrashed around helplessly looking for a way to escape, but Brouji's grip was tight around her neck. The monster man let out a sly smile as he watched the dark-haired girl slowly become still and quiet.

"I just have one last thing to say," Tomoyo whispered, her bangs covering her eyes.

"Oh, what's the that?"

"Please look up."

"What?"

"Look up!" Brouji raised an eyebrow, but looked up anyway, and saw nothing. "What am I looking at?"

"Don't you find it odd that after you completely destroyed the fourth floor and a large part of the third floor, not a single speck of debris has fallen? And judging from the the sheer power of your blast, there should be quite a large amount," Tomoyo said simply.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"I'm saying that this fight is indeed over, for you!" With that Tomoyo sliced the assassin's right wrist, and quickly rolled through his legs the second he let go. Brouji let out a cry of pain as he clamped his left hand over the wound.

"You bitch! You're dead!" But he soon found out that his legs wouldn't move. They were tied together by sliver thread.

"You're not going anywhere," Tomoyo said with a smile as she pulled out her sliver bell and pointed it to the above floors. "I wouldn't want you to miss the best part."

"What! As if you could defeat me little girl!"

"You'd be surprised. You see the reason that no debris has fallen is because it is being held in place by my kunai," she started, shooting out several long threads from the gold bell.

"That's impossible! There is no way kunai can hold up that amount of debris!"

"Normally yes, but when my kunai is filled with my ki, they can hold up to a thousand times its own weight. Right now, the only thing that is keeping all that debris up are my kunai." Brouji's eyes widened in realization.

"So when you threw all those kunai at the smoke...!"

"Yes. I was throwing them to hold the debris in place. But at that point it wasn't enough to defeat you, so I decided to wait a while, and let the debris build up, all the while getting you to this exact position where it will all fall."

"So the entire time I was throwing you around...!"

"Correct again, I was just waiting until you threw me near the stairs. Then when you grabbed me, I managed to sneak some thread around your legs to keep you in place, and that deep wound in your wrist means you'll be too weak from blood loss to try anything." Brouji gritted his teeth, the entire time this girl had figured out how to defeat him, and he played right into her every trap like a fool!

"As if just a bunch of rubble can defeat me little girl! I'm too strong for that!!!!!" he yelled. Tomoyo let out a giggle.

"Normally you would be right. But add in the rather large amount of the rubble, the height of the fourth floor to the first floor, the speed the debris is sure to pick up from the fall, and you have about the same amount force as you do Mr. Brouji, so I believe this will work."

"No don't!!!!"

"It was a pleasure meeting you." And with that Tomoyo pulled on her golden bell pulling out the kunai that were holding up the debris. A faint rumble could be heard that soon became so loud that it could be mistaken for an earthquake. The debris plummeted down to the first floor destroying the stairs on the way, and gaining speed that made it look like a large blur. Brouji let out a loud cry as all the blocks, rocks, stones, metal, glass, rubber, and wood that made up the fourth floor and third floor all collapsed on top of him in a loud crash that caused that entire mansion to shake.

Tomoyo lowered her arms from her eyes and surveyed the damage. The entire corridor was filled with dust and small rocks. The grand and expensive looking staircase that she, Sakura, and Meilin once descended down from, was no more. All that was left were a few broken pieces of wood and stone that soon fell to ground as well. She looked to her right and saw a massive pile of debris that could have been mistaken for a pyramid from a distance. At the very bottom of the pile was a still dust filled hand that was soon covered by some rocks that fell from the top of the pile. Tomoyo collapsed to her knees and let out a long sigh. She had done it.

Unknown to her, a figure in the shadows let out a small smirk.

"She certainly is her father's child," he muttered.

AN: I am so so so so sorry for the long delay. I really wanted to get this chapter out before school started, but that proved impossible because of writer's block, and lack of motivation. Believe it or not during the delay I actually considered discounting this fic! I'm sure that would disappoint so many people! But luckily for you guys I found my inspiration again. Anyway so school started once again, and this year I'm a senior. I've only been in school for two weeks, but I've come to this conclusion: I HATE MY MATH TEACHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All throughout High School I've heard stories about her, and no one seemed to like her at all. So when I found out that I would have her this year, I pushed myself to keep an open mind. But it only took 5 minutes for me to confirm all those bad stories about her. I won't bore you with the details, but she's just terrible! ARG!!! Math was hard enough, now I have put up with a freakin' bitch for a teacher!!!!! ARG!!!!!!!! (Deep breath). Good news is, I'm taking a creative writing class, so that should help me a lot. Hopefully you'll be able to see the fruits of that class as the year goes on. Anyway, enough rambling here's the preview for the next chapter!

_Tomoyo: I've defeated Brouji, so that only leaves Sakura and my mother. I hope Sakura-chan is okay. _

_Sakura: What do I do? I can't sense Kuriko, and I'm starting to lose my energy! How can I win! _

_Kero: And if that isn't enough, Tomoyo's mom starts to show her true colors, and...hey...who's this guy dressed in black? And why does he seem so friendly with Sonomi? And why does he keep mentioning this Xia Lang guy? _

_Sakura: You'll just have to find out in "Black Dragon" next Seven Deadly Jewels. See you then! _


	70. Black Dragon

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 70

Li dodged a knife thrust, and knocked his attacker into an incoming five with a swift kick to the face. A strong elbow to the stomach collapsed another one to ground behind him.

"35," Li counted off. He looked around the now wrecked and damaged ballroom. The clean white walls that had sparkled and shone when they first entered were now filled with holes and unconscious foot soldiers. The sliver floor that once seemed like a clear mirror was covered with blood smudges from broken noses, and coughed up blood from the attackers. The golden chandeliers were knocked down and broken courtesy of Meilin who had kicked a solider so hard he had flown into all four of the chandeliers. The portraits were torn or slashed, and the windows were shattered. The round tables on the side were broken in half or smashed completely. One of the long white pillars that held up one of the second floor overhead was destroyed when Li threw a solider into it. The unconscious and half dead bodies of the soldiers were sprawled out across the floor in various positions. Those who could at least limp took the easy route, and ran as fast as they could away from the three. The rest weren't so lucky.

"Is that all you have Syaoran?" Eriol said with a laugh as he kneed one of the last soldiers in the stomach. "I have 48 in all!"

"Bastard!" Meilin yelled, and kicked an unfortunate soldier a window, completely shattering the glass. "I only got 27!!"

"You'll just have to do better next time Meilin-chan," the doctor laughed. Meilin growled and stomped over to him, not caring that her feet were stomping into the semi-conscious soldiers on the floor.

"Bullshit!" she yelled. "You had an unfair advantage and you know it!"

"Knock it off Meilin," Li hissed as he grabbed one of the conscious soldiers by the collar. "We have something more important to discuss."

"Like what?" she asked with annoyance, not wanting to let go of Eriol's advantage in their game. Li rolled his eyes at her stubbornness, but chose not to addresses it.

"Like who these bastards were after for one thing. Who they're working for. Why they wanted to stop us from helping Tomoyo and her mother," he listed, all the while trying to shake one of the unconscious soldiers into consciousness.

"Can't Eriol hypnotize them into telling us that stuff?" Meilin asked with a huff. "Why waste our energy trying to get these guys to talk the normal way?"

"I've been trying Meilin," Eriol answered. "Throughout the fight, I've been trying to get inside the minds of our attackers, but their minds have been sealed off to me."

"Sealed off?" Meilin repeated, now intrigued in the subject.

"There's a mental block that stops Eriol's probe," Li explained.

"No way! There's no way these weaklings could learn something like that!"

"Which leads me to believe that someone placed it inside of them," Eriol said as he knelled next to Li to help with the interrogation.

"That isn't the only thing weird," Li said. "I don't think we were the actual targets."

"What are you talking about? These guys came after no one else but us!" Meilin protested. "There's no one else to go after anyway. Everyone left!"

"Not everyone," Li muttered. "Think. Throughout all that noise and fighting, did you ever see those three guys we met in that back room leave? Not only that, but none of these soldiers even motioned towards that back room."

"Because they were after us!" Meilin said again.

"No Meilin," Eriol said. "These men were too weak to be our assassins. Whoever is pulling strings must know us, otherwise how else would they know to send John, or rather Mindfreak to torment me?"

"And Mindfreak seemed to know a little bit about all of us remember? So by that logic, if the leader knows us, why would they send such weak assassins if they were planning on killing us?" Li added.

"A distraction," the doctor answered. "These men were sent specifically to keep us away from the real targets. Which could be the three men in the back room, or Sonomi-san and Tomoyo-san!"

"V-very good," the soldier said with a weak chuckle. "W-we were told that you three were strong...but I didn't imagine you to be smart as well. Well you two at least...!"

"What was that you half-dead bastard!" Meilin growled.

"Easy Meilin!" Li barked. "Tell me who are you working for!"

"L-like hell I'm telling you anything...!" Li slammed his fist into the center of the man's face, breaking his nose on impact.

"I'll ask you again," he growled. "Who are you working for!"

"K-k-kiss my ass!"

"Eriol!" As if on cue Eriol clapped his hands, and placed them on the man's ribs. The soldier gripped his throat and gasped for air.

"Sir," Eriol said politely. "I am slowly draining the oxygen from your lungs. At this rate you will die a very slow and painful death, and I highly doubt you want that. So please for your own sake tell us what we want to know."

"E-Em...!" he choked out, but the rest was lost in a series of shallow gasps.

"What was that?" Eriol asked pleasantly as he removed his hands, granting the man back oxygen. After several weak breaths, the man started to answer.

"The man who ordered us here told us to keep you three at bay."

"Why is that?" the doctor asked.

"An outside source told us you three could be a problem to the assassinations tonight."

"Assassinations?" Eriol repeated, picking up on the plural. "There was more than one target?" The man nodded.

"One was Sonomi Daidouji, and any next of kin she might have."

"I thought as much," Li muttered.

"And the others were the three men in the back room like you said. Our master told us they were last four remaining."

"Who's your master!" Li barked. "And what do you mean last remaining!"

"I...!" But the man was silenced when four flying blue knives suddenly impaled themselves in his chest. The soldier let out a surprise gasp before he fell lifelessly.

"What the hell!" Meilin exclaimed.

"Tut, tut, it appears I arrived here too late," a pleasant yet cold voice said from the doorway. "The fool already said too much already."

The three turned to the door to see a man in his early thirties leaning casually against one of the sliver doors. He wore a pure black suit that blended him in completely with the darkness. His ice blue eyes pierced through the ballroom, scanned the area for a few seconds before focusing on the three before him. The man strode into the room with a cold smile and brushed his long black bangs of his shoulder-length hair out of his eyes.

"My, my, my, you three certainly did a number on these soldiers. It looks like our information on you three was correct."

Li felt his body freeze. The very second that the man made his presence known, the air suddenly became thin, and cold. His breath was short and rapid, his legs refused to make any motion at all, even his toes were still. This man was giving off no real ki or magical signature that he could pick up on, but his sheer raw presence was suffocating and overwhelming.

"What's the matter?" he asked with a cold smile. "Afraid?" His pale blue eyes met with Li's amber and four blurs suddenly shot through the air and impaled themselves in his forehead. Li's eyes widened as he felt his blood flow down his face like a river over his eyes until all he could see was red.

"Syaoran!" Meilin barked. "What the hell is wrong with you!" Li snapped out of his trance, and ran his shaking hand across his forehead. He felt no holes or knives.

"It...it...it was all...an...illusion?" he asked breathlessly. He turned over to Eriol who seemed to be experiencing the same sensation as him. The doctor was on his knees, his eyes and body shaking, with drool rolling down the corner of his mouth.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys!" Meilin yelled. Li and Eriol slowly turned to the young girl who seemed unaffected by whatever presence the man was giving off.

"Well this is interesting. You don't fear me little girl?" the black-clad man said with mild surprise. Meilin just scoffed.

"Hell no! I'm afraid of no one! Especially not some sneaky bastard who kills his own comrades!"

"Well then by all means come at me."

"With pleasure!!"

"Meilin don't!" Li hissed, but the ruby-eyed girl already sprinted towards her new opponent. The black-clad man suddenly vanished in a dark blur and reappeared nose to nose with Li in a split second. Meilin was frozen.

"Too easy," the man scoffed. With those words Meilin's upper body exploded with bloody cuts that sprayed to the pure white walls and floor as she fell lifelessly to the ground.

"MEILIN!!!!!!!!!" the two boys yelled. All fear and hesitation drained away from Li's body as he lunged towards the black-clad man, with Eriol rushing to Meilin's side. The man dodged Li's swing by moving back, and spun out of the way of the young man's follow up sidekick. The swordsman's heart raced when he saw the man's long slim fingers curl into a fist. The vision of Meilin's defeat and his other two victims raced played through his mind; he quickly back flipped away to save himself from the same fate.

"Don't be so jumpy," he chuckled. "I was just flexing my fingers."

'What the hell is up with this guy?' Li thought. 'How was he able to move so fast! He nearly killed Meilin in half a second! Who is he?'

"Please do hurry, I am pressed for time after all. I still need to kill Sonomi."

"What do you want with her? And why are you after those three men? Who are you!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, now you really don't expect me to answer those questions do you?" Li grimaced, knowing that it would be useless to try and scare or intimidate the man.

"Are you the one who killed Mindfreak?" Eriol asked suddenly with his hands glowing green over Meilin's bloodied wounds.

"Yes I am," the assassin answered. "He needed to be silenced."

"Eriol, how's Meilin?" Li asked, his eyes not leaving the man.

"She's alive, miraculously none of her major internal organs were struck," the doctor replied relived as his hands moved around the girl's body. The man just chuckled as he flexed his long fingers again.

"I didn't feel the need to kill her, you should be thankful." Li's hands curled into tight fists as he gritted his teeth. The assassin took notice of this and let out a soft cold laugh.

"What's so damn funny!" the swordsman barked.

"You are nothing like your father are you Syoaran Li?"

"What the hell do you know about my father!" The man let out a dark smirk as he answered softly.

"Everything. From the time he first arrived in this place to when he left and came back. He's quite the interesting character. What's he up to nowadays? Still practicing swordsmanship I assume."

"He died when I was 4," Li replied. The man's eyes were genuinely shocked, and his cold expression changed to a look of pure surprise, and regret. Li watched as the man dropped his head, his bangs covering his eyes.

"I see," he said softly. "I am so sorry to hear that." Li raised an eyebrow. Was it possible that this man was an old friend of his father's? If he was what else did he know about him?

"I am sorry..." the man continued, his voice rising. "That _I _wasn't the one who sent that man to hell myself!!!!!" His boomed through the large ballroom and shook the tables. Li could feel his killing intent go through the roof, and his aura started to show itself. It was a pure black calm, yet wild illusive aura that only belonged to the fiercest and wildest of fighters. His black aura flamed around the assassin for a few seconds before it calmed down and retracted back into his body.

"Who are you?" Li asked again.

"How did he die?" the man asked, his voice soft but still angry. "Who killed Li Xian Lang?"

"What?"

"Someone had to kill him. He would never die of something as weak as a sickness, he was never foolish enough for accidents, so who killed him!"

"I don't know!" Li yelled again, his anger for some reason brewing. "I told you I was still a kid! I don't know shit about the man!"

"A son that has no clue about his father? HA! You are disgrace to your father, and your clan. You couldn't even connect a single blow on me." Li gritted his teeth, and dug his nails into his skin. Whatever fear or foreboding he had before was vaporized by his anger towards his new opponent. The bastard had no right calling him a disgrace, and what did he know about him or his clan in the first place? But his desire for information was outweighed by his desire to prove the older man wrong. Before he had to chance to think of a strategy, Li dashed towards the black-clad man with a loud yell.

The man easily dodged Li's first jab, and his follow up left hook. Li pivoted on the balls of his feet and turned his left hook into a fast elbow strike instantly. The assassin blocked the attack with his palm and slammed a jab into Li's stomach, making him double over. The swordsman raised his head only to be on the receiving end of a right hook that sent him flying into a table. Li launched himself into the air from under the rubble and attacked with a flying sidekick. The assassin merely bent his body back and let the kick pass over him without batting an eyelash. The second Li's feet hit the ground, he lunged into a right straight punch to the back of the older man's skull, but the assassin twirled on the balls of his feet and let Li pass him like a breeze.

"Is that all the power the son of Li Xian Lang has? I was correct after all, you are a disgrace," the man said with disappointment.

"Shut up!!!" Li yelled and charged again. The young man fired many hard and anger filled punches, but the older man was dodging them with his eyes closed, only feeding to Li's anger. The swordsman launched another strong jab, but the assassin became a blur, and all Li collided with was a wall.

"Syaoran calm down! He's toying with you!" Eriol warned, but his plea fell on deaf ears as Li attacked in a fury again. He attacked with a fast left straight, but the man caught it as if he was catching a ball. Li gritted his teeth and threw another punch, but the assassin caught it as well. Li struggled to escape from his grip but his hands weren't moving at all.

"I grow tired of this game. I do have other things to do. So this is good night for now. May we meet again when you've become stronger." With that the man pull back his head, and with one head butt Li's eyes rolled back into his head and fell to the ground like a rock.

"Syaoran!" Eriol exclaimed and ran to his aid. The black-clad assassin bowed to Eriol before disappearing in a black blur.

OOOOO

"Fine we'll do it your way then. Just be warned this could be the last moments of your life," the woman said as she shifted into a stance.

"I was about to say the same thing!" With that said Yuka charged. The girl hurled five kunai the woman, signaling the start of the fight. Sonomi merely stepped to the side avoiding the attack with ease. Yuka twirled on the balls of her feet, and spun herself into a spinning back fist towards Sonomi's skull, the spaces between her fingers filled with kunai. The woman quickly ducked under the attack, but suddenly Yuka grabbed her shoulders and pulled Sonomi into a strong knee strike towards the stomach. Sonomi crossed her arms over her chest to block, but a kunai suddenly thrust out of Yuka's knee heading straight to the woman's arms. Thinking quickly Sonomi knocked Yuka's arms off her shoulders and back flipped towards her desk.

"Still think I'm a rookie?" the red haired girl asked with a chuckle as the kunai slowly retracted back into her knee. Sonomi let out a grunt as her reply, but the look of superiority was still the woman's eyes, making Yuka growl. The assassin angrily hurled ten kunai at her target, who jumped out of their path and landed with grace by the door. Yuka leaped towards Sonomi and twisted her body into a powerful roundhouse kick. The Daidouji woman blocked the kick with both her forearm and gritted her teeth at the strong impact, but Yuka wasn't finished. At that moment three kunai sprang out of Yuka toes like talons and pierced deeply into Sonomi's arm. She let out out quick cry of pain, making Yuka smile darkly as she dragged her foot across the older woman's chest. The female assassin pulled back her leg when she reached as far as she could go, and fired a sidekick to Sonomi's stomach making the older woman knock the door of its hinges and slide into the long corridor.

"Damn, I let my guard down," the woman scolded herself feeling the long jagged slash from her arm to the center of her chest. Suddenly four kunai shot towards her forehead. Sonomi quickly rolled to the left, her back towards one of the many doors in the corridor and, got to her feet. The moment she did, Yuka shot out of the door across from Sonomi and slammed a sidekick into her face. As the woman stumbled back she felt her foot trip a wire behind her. The door behind her swung open as she stumbled in and slammed itself shut.

The room was a very narrow closet with barely enough room for Sonomi to take two steps in, and there wasn't even enough elbow room. There was no light and tight dark walls awoken a sense of foreboding in the Daidouji woman. Her sense was proven right when a panel in the small square ceiling opened and dropped countless kunai into the narrow closet, Sonomi's eyes widened in shock and fear when she realized there was no escape.

Outside, Yuka let out a loud laugh of triumph when heard the cry of Daidouji and the countless kunai impact with the floor. She had done it, she had killed the infamous Sonomi Daidouji! The master would reward her for sure. A dark smile crossed her lips as she approached the door, wanting the see the mangled and metal filled body of the once great Sonomi Daidouji for herself. The image of Daidouji's body filled kunai and her blood soaking the white floor of closest made Yuka let out another loud laugh of triumph.

Suddenly the door flew off its hinges, making Yuka jump over it, but when she looked into the closest she was met with surprise. It was empty, save for the many kunai embedded into the floor, but there was no mangled body of Sonomi Daidouji as she had hoped, it was as if she was never in the closet in the first place.

"How is this possible!" she cried as she landed where the door once stood. "How the hell did that bitch escape! My strategy was foolproof!"

"The only fool here is you!" a voice exclaimed from behind her. Yuka turned around to receive a very powerful roundhouse kick that sent her flying through 13 walls. Sonomi let out a huff when she saw the damage she had caused. But paid it no mind. She was about to turn her back on the fight when Yuka slowly opened the door of the room she had crashed into on the far side of the long corridor and instantly collapsed to the ground.

"You...bitch..." she muttered weakly as she slowly got to her feet.

"Consider that payback for your kick earlier," Sonomi said simply.

"How...did...you...escape...!" the female assassin growled as she limped toward her target, her hand on the walls for support.

"Give up," the woman said, ignoring Yuka's question. "You've seen just how outmatched you are. Take your men, and never come back."

"I'm not finished yet! I still have plenty more tricks up my sleeve!" Sonomi closed her eyes and gritted her teeth in frustration. Anger boiled inside of her stomach at the girl's persistence. Why wouldn't she listen! Any fool could see that she could never beat her no matter how many tricks she pulled. Sonomi felt a fire build in her chest that mixed with her anger causing her entire body to feel as though she was going through an inferno, but it didn't bother the woman. Her temperature rose, and the fire flew up her chest to her head, where she felt it settle behind her eye. A light purple smoke like aura started to form around the older woman who felt that at any moment she would explode. Her mind flashed her the image of her rebellious daughter and their latest argument.

"_At least they're actually there for me!" _The moment she thought of Tomoyo's words, Sonomi snapped.

"You should really listen to your elders you damn ambitious brat!!!!!" Yuka's eyes widened when Sonomi snapped open her eyes. A cold chill passed through her body that made her freeze and drop to her knees in fear. Sonomi's eyes pierced through her body, making her heart stop. Her eyes had changed. Her right eye was the same vibrant violet, but her left eye had changed completely. It was now a cold golden yellow with a black pupil that was four times larger than the normal eye. Her left eye was radiating nothing but pure killing intent and blood lust. Yuka's eyes lowered to the woman's hands, and was once again froze with fear. Sonomi's hands were filled with kunai from the closet trap. Sonomi hadn't escaped from the trap, she had caught all the kunai that had rained down on her!

It was then Yuka realized just how outmatched she was. This woman was completely out of her league, there was no way she could win. As Sonomi stalked closer to the frightened girl, Yuka heart started to harder. Her breath was shallow as she watched the woman grow ever closer to her with nothing but death in eyes and a purple aura flaming around her. Yuka let out a loud scream and rapidly threw as many kunai as she could pull out of her body. Sonomi threw all the kunai in her hands in response, and canceled out all the projectiles when hers collided with Yuka's making them fall to the floor. Yuka stepped back, she wanted to run as far from this place as fast as she could, but her body wouldn't move.

"I warned you," Sonomi growled like a beast. "I warned you to give up! Now you must face the consequences!" The older woman's hands started to glow a bright yellow.

"No please! Spare me! Please!!!!"

"_Daidouji Ryu:_..." Suddenly Sonomi disappeared in a purple blur. Yuka looked around the narrow corridor but she couldn't find Sonomi anywhere.

"D-did she leave...?" Her question was answered when she heard a loud voice exclaim above her:

"_Flying Hawk Talons!!!" _Sonomi dropped from the air and collided her ki filled hand with Yuka's face, slamming her into ground and causing a loud shock wave to gust through the hallway and fly down what was left of the stairs with a cloud of dust behind it.

When the dust settled, Sonomi slowly removed her hand from Yuka's face and jumped out of the four foot hole that had formed in the hallway. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Her left eye began to glow yellow and soon shrunk down to normal size. When she opened her eyes again she let out a sigh and brushed some hair out of her eyes.

"I hope you've learned from this," she muttered to Yuka's now unconscious body. The woman turned to go down the stairs when a wave of pain ran through her body causing a spasm of nausea churned her stomach. Sonomi clamped her hand to her mouth and forced whatever she had eaten for dinner back down her throat. The room started to spin and she felt very feverish and light headed. Her muscles sent shocks of pain and discomfort throughout her body and her left eye felt like it was on fire.

"Having a little trouble maintaining that eye of yours Sonomi," a cold voice whispered in the shadows. Sonomi's heart stopped, and suddenly whatever trouble her body was giving seemed insignificant.

"I knew you had to be involved in this somehow," she growled. The man from the ballroom stepped out of the shadows and gave Sonomi a smile.

"It's so nice to you again after all these years, Hawkeye Sonomi."

"I wish I could say the same, Black Dragon Kuruma."

OOOOO

Sakura gasped when she saw three more arrows head her way. The young girl tried to jump out of their path, but her legs were getting heavier. She only managed to jump two inches before the three arrows pierced into her shoulder. Sakura collapsed to her knees and let out short shallow breaths. The fight wasn't going well for her at all. Her opponent Kuriko had all the advantages in this fight, leaving Sakura with almost nothing to work with. The archer had stuck Sakura with several arrows that drained her energy making her unable to effectively use her powers or her cards. And to make matters worse her reflexes and speed were getting slower and slower with each passing minute. Sakura was at a loss, what could she do?

"I hope by now you've accepted your fate little girl!" Kuriko yelled from the trees, and four more arrows shot out. Sakura barely managed to roll out the way. "Guess not. Oh well more fun for me!"

"This isn't good," she gasped breathlessly. Six arrows shot towards the young girl, and her legs refused to support her anymore. Her arms were too heavy to move, and it was a workout just to remain sitting up. She was about to give up when a blast of fire reduced the arrows to nothing but ash, and Sakura suddenly picked up by a set of powerful yet gentle fangs. She turned around and smiled brightly.

"Kero-chan!" The beast tossed Sakura on his back and flew above the trees. "Thank you so much Kero-chan!"

"Don't mention it kid. Her arrows can't reach us up here, the bow doesn't have enough range and were nothing but dots to her anyway."

"Can you see her down there?" Sakura asked.

"Not really. But if I go lower she'll be able to shoot." Sakura closed her eyes and thought hard. They were at a true impasse. She couldn't see Kuriko on the ground, but Kuriko could see her. She didn't have enough energy to attack or use the cards, yet Kuriko seemed to have an endless supply of arrows. She couldn't see where Kuriko was, but Kuriko couldn't see them either. If they flew down it would be just about the same as before. As fast as Kero was Sakura wasn't sure if he would be fast enough to dodge the arrows. And the last thing she wanted was for Kero to be in the same situation as her. If only they could figure out where Kuriko was, then she and Kero would be able to use some kind of combo attack. But Kero's fire wasn't strong enough to set the entire forest aflame fast enough. Kuriko could easily move to a different location when the fire would be still gaining power. They needed something that was sure to help them find Kuriko that Kuriko couldn't escape from. It was then Sakura came up with an idea.

"Kero go lower into the trees!" she exclaimed.

"Do you have an idea?" the beast asked hopefully.

"Kind of," Keroberos just shrugged.

"Better than nothing." With that he nosedived from the sky at a fast rate and soon arrows were being shot towards him. "Sakura hurry up!"

"Not yet!" Sakura replied as Kero dodged another set.

"What are you waiting for!" the beast asked as he barrel rolled out of the way of six arrows.

"Hold on!" the young girl said as she pulled out a card.

"HA! I told you those elemental attacks are worthless!" Kuriko voice yelled from the trees. Sakura smirked and held up the card.

"Voice Card! Find the voice of my foe!" With the order in place a small pink ball flew up from the card and launched itself to the far right. Sakura tapped Kero on the shoulder when she saw the ball had settled on a heavily wooded area to their far right.

"Kero-chan fire a blast over there!" she ordered.

"Gotcha!" A large blast of fire sent the entire section aflame, and Sakura saw a small figure jump out, coughing heavily from the the smoke.

"We have her now!" Sakura held out her hand and felt the air around her form into a pink ball that fitted into her hand. She could only make one of these attacks, so she needed to make sure it ended this fight.

"Kero-chan! Fly faster to that area!" The beast nodded and before she knew it, the entire forest was going by in a fast blur of wind. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as the cold air whipped across her face, and nearly knocked her off. She gripped the pink sphere in her hand tightly, making sure didn't lose it, and slowly cracked open an eye. They were half way towards Kuriko who was still coughing out the smoke from her lungs. Sakura decided that now was the best she could get. She took a deep breath before hurling the pink sphere from her hands like a baseball towards the archer.

"Kero-chan! Fire a blast at my attack! Hurry!" Kero did as he was told and fired a long stream of flame at that flying sphere, that engulfed the pink ball in red and orange fire. Kuriko saw the blast heading for her, and tried to jump back. The attack collided with the ground causing an explosion of wind and fire that enveloped Kuriko. The archer let out a loud scream as she burned and was blown through countless trees. Kero flew over the archer when she was still and saw her unconscious but not dead thirty feet from where they had found her.

"Glad that's over," Kero said with a sigh. Sakura nodded as her eyes began to close. She felt her strength leave her, and her energy continue to decrease. Eventually she lost the battle, and collapsed onto Kero's back as he flew back to the mansion.

OOOOO

Tomoyo entered the ballroom with a gasp. The once beautiful room now looked as through a storm had passed through it. Bodies were strewn everywhere, glass was shattered, painting ruined, chandeliers destroyed, wall with many holes, and Meilin and Li unconscious on the ground with Eriol nursing them.

"Eriol-kun!" she exclaimed as she rushed over.

"Tomoyo-san," Eriol replied with relief. "I'm glad you're all right. I wish I could say the same about these two. Luckily they'll both be fine. Li only got a hard hit to the head, and Meilin's wounds weren't as serious as they first looked. We lucked out."

"What happened?" Eriol told her, but left out the parts about Li's father. "Oh my..." she gasped when the doctor had finished. "I had no idea someone could defeat Li so easily."

"No matter how strong you are there's always someone stronger," Eriol said. "Do you know where Sakura-san and Kero are?"

"Over here," a voice said from out the window. The two turned around and saw Kero floating outside with an exhausted Sakura on his back. The beast flew in and transformed back into his smaller form. "Man what a night!" he exclaimed as he fell over.

"I have a feeling it isn't over yet," Eriol replied.

OOOOO

Sonomi stared intently at the man named Kuruma who was standing only a few feet away from her. Emotions running through her mind like clockwork, but she refused to show it on her face. She curled her fingers into a fist, but quickly relaxed as she looked over the black-clad assassin with bitterness in her eyes.

"It's been a while," she said at last. "I'd like to say I'm happy to see you, but I'm not." Kuruma just chuckled.

"Likewise. I'm only here for a job."

"Killing me I assume." Kuruma grinned.

"Sharp as ever." Sonomi grimaced and made a fist.

"What's going on Kuruma," she said sharply. "I know that you know so don't lie!"

"It's simple really, our mutual master sees you and your three old friends as collateral, he wants you all finished. Your presence threatens his plans."

"That doesn't sound like the master I remember at all," Sonomi muttered under her breath.

"But your in luck. I have no desire to kill you. Fighting you would take up too much time and energy even though I know its been a while since you fought, but I know that training never goes away."

"If you don't want to kill me, then what do you want?"

"Stay hidden and out of the master's way. Don't tell anyone what you know understand?" Sonomi just scoffed.

"That's easy, I've been avoiding you bastards since the second time I left that kind of life." Kuruma chuckled again.

"I knew it wouldn't be a problem for you, but what about your daughter? I may have to kill her if she keeps hanging around those friends of hers. The master has classified them as a threat as well." Sonomi glared at the black-clad assassin with nothing but pure death and hate in her eyes.

"If...you...ever...so much...as...put a finger...on her...!" she growled furiously.

"Yes yes yes, I see your point. But if she keeps hanging Xian Lang's son and Nadeshiko's daughter I may have no choice."

"Shut up!" Sonomi yelled. "I want nothing more than to have Tomoyo come home with me right now! I don't want her anywhere near the kind of life she's living now! Always wandering, fighting dangerous people and demons! That's no way for a girl like her to live! But she's so stubborn! She has her father's damn rebellious genes and stubbornness!" Kuruma let out a loud laugh. "What!"

"Oh nothing, I just find it very ironic that you don't want you daughter to live the exact same life you did when you were her age. When you first left us to run around the country with Nadeshiko, Xian Lang, and what was the other man's name... was it uh...oh yes...K..."

At that moment a kunai came inches from Kuruma's heart, but the assassin quickly jumped to the side with a laugh. "I'm sorry, did I strike a nerve?"

"Don't you _EVER _speak that worthless man's name in my presence! I gave him everything, and what does he do? Choses his damn freedom over his own wife and daughter! He's nothing but a selfish bastard!!!"

"You say that with such anger, but I can also sense sadness in your voice as well," Kuruma said with a dark smile. "Do you wish your life was as it was before?" Sonomi's eyes widened as her mind flashed back to a scene close to her heart.

_Flashback_

"_Sonomi-chan!"a young girl who was a head shorter than Sonomi called. Her long curly purple hair flowing in the light wind. Her emerald eyes glowing with laughter, and her lips curled into a beautiful smile that could stop any death blow. Her pale complexion and pure white dress somehow matching the long yellow and green grass of the open field they were sitting on. _

_Sonomi looked up, her hair back then long but not nearly as long as Nadeshiko's. Hers was shoulder length and tied in a low ponytail. She was wearing a simple purple gi with a family symbol at that the back. The younger Sonomi saw Nadeshiko running towards her, her feet barefooted in the long grass and a bucket in her hands. _

_Next to her was a tall man with long chestnut hair in a high ponytail with hard yet soft amber eyes. He wore a simple green gi with his straight sword on his back. He had a long horizontal scar on his forehead and a long jagged diagonal scar on his left cheek. His hands were hard and calloused from his many years of sword training. He was constantly looking over his shoulder as if expecting something were to happen at any moment. _

"_It's your turn to gather water. Li-san told me to come get you," she said brightly. Sonomi just groaned as she laid back on the grass. _

"_I'll get to it," she replied waving off her best friend. The man known as Li just scoffed. _

"_You're just as lazy as the bum next to you. You two would make a beautiful couple." Sonomi shot straight up with a growl. _

_  
"What was that you bastard!" _

"_You heard me," he muttered. _

"_Me with this pain in the ass good for nothing drunken lazy bum!" she yelled and pointed to the sleeping figure was laying a few feet away from her. He wore a simple black gi, but his face was blocked by the woven straw hat over his face. Next to his feet was a red jug of sake, and a small white dish limply in his hands. _

"_You forgot handsome..." he slurred sleepily. _

"_Don't you dare say that to me again, you got that Li!" she yelled at the taller man, ignoring the other man. _

"_What if I do," he said simply. Sonomi growled and pulled out a kunai seemingly out of nowhere. Nadeshiko stepped in between them with a bright smile that evaporated Sonomi's anger. _

"_Now you guys, we promised the villagers we would help, so let's fulfill that promise, okay?" _

"_Fine," Sonomi said with groan, and grabbed the bucket. _

"_Li-san, you have to help with the rice patties today." Li's hard amber eyes softened for a second before he complied with a simple grunt and walked off. Within moments the bickering between him and Sonomi started again. Nadeshiko then turned to the final man. _

"_Daidouji-san please help the men with the planting of the seedings okay? It's going to be a long winter so we need many vegetables." _

"_All right," the man known as Daidouji muttered as he felt around for his sake jug. Nadeshiko picked up the jug before he had a chance to feel it. _

"_No drinking, remember you promised." The man sighed from under his hat and sat up. He muttered something about nothing going the way he imagined before he walked past her. Nadeshiko was about to leave herself when she saw a pink petal land her shoulder. She looked up to see the tall brown tree that Sonomi was laying under starting to drop its beautiful cherry blossoms. _

"_Sakura..." she whispered as the wind and the petals seemed to circle around her. _

_Flashback End _

Sonomi's mind returned to the present with tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes that she quickly wiped away.

"Well..." Kuruma pressed when he saw that Sonomi had returned to reality. "Do you wish your life was as it was before?"

"No Kuruma. I'm afraid that time only moves forward. I couldn't go back even if I wanted to. But still, I can never forgive _that woman _for what she did. Not only for what did to me, but for destroying Nadeshiko's happiness. And it's because of that, that I'll never be able to forgive Li Yelan!"

"So much bitterness and anger from one woman. They say that stress and anger are the two main things that destroy beauty." Sonomi just scoffed, and turned her back on him.

"Either way, you delivered your message. Tomoyo and I stay out of you and your master's way, and you and your little friends leave us alone. Simple enough." Kuruma chuckled as he started to walk away.

"You and I both know that it will be easy for you, but what about your daughter?" Sonomi grimaced. "I'd be careful if I were you. History does have a tendency to repeat itself." And with that Kuruma disappeared in a black blur.

Sonomi stood still for a few long moments, her mind analyzing and taking in everything that had just occurred. Everything was coming to haunt her, after so many years of trying to escape from it. Tomoyo was going down the same path as Sonomi when she was Tomoyo's age, and her past profession was threatening to possibly kill Tomoyo. Sonomi stood against the wall, and slid to the floor. Why did it have to be this way? Why couldn't she escape? Were her mistakes and tragedies destined to repeat themselves with Tomoyo? Would Tomoyo experience the exact same pain she had to endure for past sixteen years? Tears formed again at the corners of her eyes as she thought about her life with Nadeshiko, Xian Lang and her husband, they lives they could have, should have had. Sonomi did nothing to stop that tears from falling.

OOOOO

Sakura awoke with a groan. Her body felt as heavy as stone, and her head was pounding like a drum. Her eyes, blurry at first focused in to see Eriol and Tomoyo standing over her with smiles on their faces. The young girl looked around to see that was in the hallway outside of the ballroom again, with Meilin laying next to her, unconscious, and Li standing against the wall, fury in his eyes, and his forehead bleeding. She slowly sat up, and felt that the arrows in her shoulder and back had been removed.

"T-Tomoyo-chan, are you okay?" Sakura asked slowly. Tomoyo nodded, and Eriol sighed with relief.

"I'm glad you're okay Sakura-san. You lost a large amount of energy. It would have taken weeks for you to gain it all back normally. So I helped you along," the doctor explained.

"What happened to Meilin-chan?" Sakura asked. Eriol sighed as he stood up.

"It's a long story, but for now let's get out of here."

"Agreed," Li said simply.

"But Tomoyo-chan, don't you want to say goodbye to your mother?" Tomoyo grimaced slightly.

"Not really," she muttered. "We should go before more assassins show up. But all our things are upstairs, and I kind of destroyed the stairs."

"No problem." Eriol snapped his fingers, and instantly the large amount of debris, stone, wood, and metal all flew up and reformed themselves into the long and elegant stairs they once were. The doctor snapped his fingers again and all their clothes, leftover food, and Li's sword flew down to their feet. Li merely stepped over the barely alive body of Brouji and grabbed his sword angrily.

"Let's go!" he growled.

"Wait," a voice called from above. The group looked up to see Sonomi coming down the stair with several long white boxes in her hands. "Take these for your trip." Eriol took the boxes and opened them. They were spare clothes, food, and money.

"Thank you," Eriol accepted with a bow. Sonomi returned the sentiment, and looked over to Li, her eyes filled with sadness and worry.

"Tomoyo," Sonomi called. Tomoyo sighed and walked to her mother. Sonomi stooped down to be eye-to-eye with her daughter, and gave her a tight hug, catching Tomoyo by surprise. Before the dark-haired girl could return the hug, Sonomi had pulled back and stood up. "Be careful," she whispered and walked back up the stairs without looking back.

"Tomoyo-san, shall we..." Eriol started.

"Yes, let's go," she replied. As they left, Tomoyo looked over her shoulder to the stairs her mother ascended with a look of longing in her eyes.

AN: FINALLY DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD!!!!!!!!!!! I'm very very very sorry for the delay. A lot of stuff came up. My grades aren't where I want them to be at all, and I've using my free time to study . It's not doing much since my grades are still at the level. On a different note, it was my birthday Sept. 21. I got a Nintendo Wii (YAY!!!!!!). Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (YAYYYYYYY!) So those games have been eating away at my free time on weekends to. So that explains the long absence from this story. That and I had writer's block , no motivation, and almost came close to discounting again. But once I started to get into Sonomi's back story I got into it again. That and lack of reviews. I don't want to sound desperate or anything, but PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! Last chapter I only got 3, which meant to me that people weren't reading the story anymore, so I didn't feel motivated to update faster. I like to know what guys think. I mean the hit system tells me people are at least reading the story, but I want to know what readers think! What am I doing right, what am I doing wrong! I mean I've learned in Creative Writing class that, telling what you think about a story greatly helps the author! (And I'm not talking about those "I like it. Update soon!" things, those don't help at all, in fact they're kind of annoying. ) I'm not going to set up a review quota or anything. I'm just saying that your reviews motivate me to update faster. Anyway enough whining here's the preview for next chapter. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_Sakura: We run into an old friend of ours, Ms. Eva! She and her little baby are traveling, look for her husband._

_Tomoyo: But we have to led her through a dangerous forest and make sure nothing happens to them. _

_Sakura: Huh? Hoeeeee!!!!! Li and I have been separated from the others, and we have the baby! _

_Tomoyo: Can Li and Sakura survive the challenge of unexpected parenthood? Find out next time in "Sweet Child of Mine" It's going to be so cute! _


	71. HalfDemon HalfBrother See AN Inside

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 71

AN: I know that some of you are settling in for a nice S&S themed chapter about the glory and horrors of looking after a baby, and reuniting of an old face. Well, I regret to inform you that, that chapter has been pushed back. This chapter is plot-themed. I'll explain the details later, but the main thing is, "Sweet Child of Mine" was causing some major writer's block for me, and I couldn't really get into it. Then I figured if I was a reader, and I waited like two months for a new chapter to come out, only to have it be a filler chapter, I'd be pretty annoyed. So I decided I would push back the filler, and get on with the plot. Once again, I'll explain later, but for now please enjoy the newest plot-centered chapter.

"I see you have returned, Kuruma," the figure covered by darkness said with a proud chuckle. "But I notice that the other three are missing. What happened? They know I want the report from all of you."

"They failed," Kuruma replied simply. "So I killed them."

"What!" the figure exclaimed sharply. "That's impossible! How could all three of them fail! I expected only one to fail, but all three!" Kuruma just shrugged. With a frustrated growl, the leader slammed his fist onto the arm of his chair, sending a loud shock wave to echo through the dark room. From behind him, Viga just chuckled.

"Hate to say I told you so," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Silence Viga!" the leader snapped. He quickly turned back to Kuruma. "Explain yourself! Who defeated them! How!"

"Brouji was first defeated by Tomoyo Daidouji. Yuka defeated by Sonomi Daidouji, and Kuriko was defeated by the girl known as Sakura Kinomoto. I had the pleasure of finishing them all off."

"No...no!"

"I guess your "elite" weren't so great after all," Viga said with another chuckle. The leader glared at the white haired man, and turned back to Kuruma.

"What about the assassinations? Did they at least succeed in killing Sonomi, and the other three?"

"No. Sonomi, her daughter, and Kinomoto all intercepted them before they had the chance. I also checked the room Sonomi had them in, they were gone," the black-clad man reported. The leader's loud yell rang through the small room with fury.

"Useless!!!!! All of them useless!!!!!!!!!"

"Hate to say I told you so..." Viga muttered.

"Kuruma I want you to track these fools down and finish them do you understand me!!!!" Kuruma simply turned his back to the leader and walked to the door as if he had heard nothing. The figure gritted his teeth when he heard no response from the black-clad man, and barked at him again.

"I gave you an order! Now follow it!"

"I am under no obligation to follow your orders," Kuruma said simply.

"WHAT WAS THAT!!!!!" the leader yelled, his hands digging into the arms of his chair, his teeth grit, and his body arched ready to pounce. Kuruma paid the leader no mind as he pushed the large double doors and casually strode out of the room.

"Remember I am no mere foot solider that you can order around. I'm a mercenary, and I reserve the right to refuse any missions given to me."

"You arrogant fool!"

"Send for me when you have a mission worthwhile. Later." With that Kuruma disappeared with a black blur. A loud scream echoed through the small room, and a bright green light illuminated the area. Smoke slowly rose from the new twenty foot wide hole in the wall near the double doors.

"Oh my, such a temper," Viga chuckled.

"Silence!" the figure yelled. After two long minutes of deep breaths and silence, he finally seated himself, and turned to Viga, who had a knowing smile on his face.

"Need something," he chuckled.

"I realize now that I underestimated this Syaoran and his friends, and I cannot afford to send anymore men to a mission they have no chance of accomplishing. Do you have any men capable of defeating this Syaoran, his group, and take the jewel they have in their possession?" Viga chuckled as he circled around the leader.

"You fool. I have been trying to kill Syaoran for as long as I care to remember. If I had someone capable of such a feat don't you think I would have sent him already?" The leader let out an understanding grunt, but soon let out a loud frustrated growl.

"There must be someone! I cannot go on with my plans with this Syaoran and interfering in my plans! I must have that jewel! And I must kill Sonomi, Magimura, Yurito, and Jotaro! They're are detrimental to my plans! But I can't kill them with the chance of Syaoran defeating any assassins I send! You must have someone capable of killing him!"

"Sorry," Viga replied. "Wish I could help, but Syaoran is a challenging person to kill. So far none of my men have come close." The white-haired man circled around the chair once again, before he stopped suddenly, and his lips narrowed into a sly smile.

"What is it? Do you know someone after all?"

"Yes I do know some people, but it will cost you. They aren't my normal men, and I must import them from the continent. It'll cost triple my normal price." The leader grimaced, and drummed his fingers on his chair in thought.

"Can you guarantee this person is able to kill Syaoran and take the jewel?" Viga laughed as he draped his arm around the leader's broad shoulder.

"The man I am thinking of is one of six elite professionals. And when I say elite, I mean true elites. These men would be able to kill your three elites in less than four seconds. No, they could kill them in five nanoseconds."

"Don't insult my men Viga!" the leader snapped, his aura beginning to flame. Viga ignored this, and let out a dark grin.

"You don't know these men. They can take the jewel and do so much more. But once again, triple my normal price." The figure gripped the arm of his chair, and looked into Viga's cold blue eyes. He gritted his teeth for a few tense moments before releasing them with a loud sigh.

"All right. I'll pay, but get me one of these men as soon as possible!" Viga smiled and walked towards the door, with a noticeable bounce in his steps.

"Please believe me when I say...you won't regret this." And walked out of the room. The double doors thumped closed behind him as the black-clad man reached into his long dark cloak. He pulled out a palm sized blue sphere that glowed a light turquoise as he talked into it.

"What is it?" a deep smooth voice said from the other side.

"I have some interesting new developments. You see Syaoran and his little friends, are starting to become trouble for my client, and so far none of my men are strong enough to defeat them. So I have a request."

"You want one of the six I assume Viga," the voice replied knowingly.

"I have reasonable compensation," Viga added quickly. "Send one of them as quickly as possible."

"All right, but I want this compensation just as quickly, understand?"

"But of course."

"Do you have a preference for which one?" Viga shrugged with a chuckle.

"No, I'm sure any of them will do, especially when they realize that their dear sibling is involved." The voice let out a low sinister chortle as he broke contact and the orb darkened. Viga let out a satisfied and triumphant sigh, and turned around to see Kuruma standing four feet away from him.

"Interesting conversation you were having," the assassin said simply.

"Can I help you?" Viga asked in a low tone, his hand slowly inching for his sword.

"Tense I see," Kuruma observed. Viga just smirked.

"Well considering your reputation I imagine that my response to you is only natural." Kuruma shrugged, and raised his hands to his chest to show no ill intent.

"I mean no harm, I only wish to ask you a simple question." Viga raised his eyebrow in interest.

"Oh? What is it then?"

"Did you know the swordsman Li Xian Lang?"

"Is that all," the white-haired man sighed with disappointment. "Of course I knew Li Xian Lang, he was the best swordsman on continent. Everyone knew him. Though few knew him personally."

"I see, and do you know how he died?"

"Unfortunately few know," Viga answered. "There are rumors and stories of course, but very few know the true way such a magnificent swordsman like him died." Kuruma furrowed his eyebrows, but said nothing as he walked passed Viga, disappointment in his eyes.

"I understand."

"Luckily for you," the white-haired man began. "I happen to be one of the select few who know the true cause of death." Kuruma froze. "That is of course, if you are still interested."

The black-clad assassin let out a small sly smile as he made his way towards Viga who matched his smile with his own. The white-haired ma draped his arm over the younger man's shoulder and they soon fell into step as they walked down the long dark corridor.

"Prepare yourself, this is a long story."

OOOOO

"Master," a roughly scarred, and sloppily dressed man said to a large dark figure. "One of the six has returned." The master motioned for the new comer to show himself as the servant quickly walked back to the far wall.

"I have completed the mission my master," the new comer reported, a brown cloak and hood covering his body and face. But it was possible to make out a few strands of metallic white hair.

"Good, good," the master said, his voice deep and smooth.

"Is there anything else you require before I return to father?"

"Yes actually."

"Please state the mission."

"Viga has requested one of you six for his client on the island. Your dear sibling and Syaoran are becoming quite a problem for him. The client wants Syaoran dead, and the jewel in their possession brought to him," the master stated.

"If I may say so, you sound uncertain."

"Observant as always," the figure complemented. "Yes I am, for you see I have a use for your sibling. Rather than kill, bring your sibling to me, I have a proposition for them."

"I understand. I will be on my way then." And with that the new comer stood and disappeared out of the door.

OOOOO

Sakura woke up with yawn in a pitch dark room. Between the sleep, and the darkness of the room, she wasn't able to tell where she was at all. The girl sleepily waved her hand in front of her face to make sure she hadn't gone blind. When she spotted the faint outline of her slightly tanned skin against the dark she slowly sat up, and crawled out of bed.

From what she could tell she was in a small hotel room. Her ears picked up the light snoring of Tomoyo who had been sleeping next to her. In the bed next to theirs slept Meilin who was sprawled out on her bed with one of her legs dangling over the side of the bed, her nightgown rolled up exposing her belly-button, and the sheets were at the foot of the bed. She let out a loud exhale every now and then, and muttered something Sakura couldn't make out. One of the white pillows was on the ground between Meilin's bed, and hers and Tomoyo's, and her head was dipped to one side. With another loud exhale one of Meilin's legs swag upwards into a kick before dropping like stone onto the bed, sending out a loud shock wave, which was probably why Meilin had her own bed, Sakura figured.

The room was square shaped with what looked like light red carpet with odd floral designs. There was a small nightstand in between

the two beds made with two drawers. A square window on the left wall was covered with white blinds that blocked the light. Under the window was a small desk with paper, ink, and a pen. Sakura stumbled through the room, tripping over a few bags, and stubbed her toe against one of the bed legs. By the time she reached the desk, she was fully awake, and reached to pull up the blinds.

Yellow light shot into her eyes, blinding her for a few seconds. The light flooded into the room instantly brining light, and stirring Tomoyo and Meilin. When Sakura's eyes finally adjusted she looked outside. The town was medium sized with what looked like a series of brown boxes grouped together into blocks. Small dots of people, and animals moved around like ants amongst the town. A thin black wall surrounded the town's perimeter with several towers placed on all sides and armed guards walking along the battlements. On the eastern wall was a large metal gate which Sakura assumed was where she and the others entered.

"Good morning Sakura-chan," she heard. Sakura turned to see Tomoyo slowly getting out of bed rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her loose fitting nightgown slipping off one shoulder, and her let down, cascading down to the middle of her back.

"Good morning Tomoyo-chan," Sakura greeted back.

"I'm glad to see you're awake and on your feet. Eriol said you lost a rather large amount of your energy."

"How long was I asleep for?" the brown-haired girl asked carefully.

"About a week, which isn't as bad as it may sound," Tomoyo quickly added when she saw Sakura's surprise. "We were all pretty tired after what happened at the mansion, remember?"

Sakura nodded, and remembered her fight with the archer Kuriko. She remembered how it took almost everything she had to defeat the other woman. Sakura knew she had improved in both her ability and her fighting technique, but the fight had showed her that she needed to get even better. If more opponents on Kuriko's level and above would keep coming, she had to get better.

"There is one more thing you should know," Tomoyo said, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts. "Li has been in a rather foul mood ever since we arrived here."

"But he always seems to be in a bad mood," Sakura replied, slightly relived that it was nothing major, but Tomoyo still had a worried look in her eyes.

"I know that, but he seems worse than usual."

"Oh?"

OOOOO

Li swung his sword with low yell, then whirled around and thrust his weapon through the air, killing his imaginary opponent. He paused for a few seconds before spinning around again into a fast downward slash cutting the imaginary opponent in half, and ending the form his was practicing, but the swordsman's mind was far from improving his technique, it was on Kuruma.

"_Is that all the power the son of Li Xian Lang has? I was correct after all, you are a disgrace." _

The words burned in Li's mind like fire as he positioned himself to begin another form. He closed his eyes to concentrate, but all his saw was the smug and confident smile of Kuruma. He saw himself attacking wildly like a simple minded beast with no plan or technique, and being dealt with just as easily. His forehead ached with pain from the one head blow that rendered him unconscious, but he still saw Kuruma's smug smile.

Anger erupted from Li's stomach, snapping his eyes open and letting out his anger and the first thing he saw, the nightstand in front of him. Seeing only wild red Li swung his sword with loud beast like yell, and the nightstand fell into two pieces that shattered on impact with the floor. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, the swordsman barely picked up the sound of light clapping.

"Great anger management Syaoran," Eriol said from the doorway.

"Shut up!" Li snapped and began his form, making Eriol roll his eyes.

"You're still at it? You've been training since dawn to noon everyday since we got here. This is great town, you should relax, take in the sights, meet some women."

"I'm sure you've been doing all of the above," Li said as thrust forward with a stab. Eriol shrugged with a mischievous smile.

"What can I say, I enjoy pleasurable company. Anyway, Sakura-san is awake now."

"So?"

"It means when can leave this place," Eriol replied too seriously, making Li stop and face his friend with a raised eyebrow.

"_You_ want leave a town that's filled with "pleasurable company?" What happened, you get a married woman pregnant?"

"Not to my knowledge..." the doctor said as he tapped his chin in thought. But he quickly shook his head to get back on track. "No, it's just that I've had a feeling of foreboding, as if something is coming."

"Like what?" Eriol shrugged his shoulders. Li narrowed his eyes. Experience had taught him to always trust whatever foreboding Eriol picked up, his senses were stronger than his after all, and if Eriol couldn't fully pick up what was coming it would be better to avoid it all together.

"Pack your shit Eriol, we're leaving."

OOOOO

Meilin opened her eyes and rolled off the bed. Her eyes scanned the area, but didn't see a hotel room, she saw a dark alley with heavy rain blocking viability and lighting lighting the sky every few seconds. Two silhouettes were running on the main road when they turned into the alley, only to see it was a dead end. Lighting cracked through the sky, lighting the alley slightly so Meilin could see the looking of hopelessness and fear in their eyes. The taller of the figures started talking, but the heavy rain muted the speech.

"Meilin...!" she heard softly.

"Meilin!

"Meilin-chan!"

"Meilin-chan!!!!" Meilin snapped her head back, ending the vision and saw Sakura and Tomoyo looking at her with worried looks in their eyes.

"What is it?" she asked quickly.

"We were about to ask you that," Tomoyo said.

"You had a lost look in your eye, and you were really still," Sakura said. "Do the wounds you got a week ago still hurt?" Meilin waved them off.

"Do be ridiculous, I'm still just sleepy."

"Are you sure?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah, I said I'm fine!" Meilin snapped. The room door swung open and Li and Eriol stepped into the girls' room.

"You're up I see," Li said dryly as he looked at Sakura. "Good. Get your stuff together, we're leaving."

"Right," Tomoyo and Sakura said in unison. When the two boys left, Sakura and Tomoyo began to gather whatever things they had laying around the room while Meilin sat down with her hand on her forehead, feeling beads of sweat.

"I haven't thought about that day in years," she whispered to herself. "So...why now...?"

OOOOO

As the sun shined a bright yellow rays upon the land, a figure in a white cloak, wide red belt, and a large hood that covered his face casted a dark shadow despite the sun. The air stood still around him, and the animals feared to be even with ten feet of the approaching figure. The large metal gate of the town stood before him. A smirk crossed his lips as he ran his pale hand across the cold metal. His targets were inside, he could feel them, but they were moving. In a few moments they would be beyond his range of sense, and it could take days to catch them. He had to hurry.

"You there!" he heard from above. Within a few moments two guards armed with long spears jumped from the battlements and pointed their blades at the newcomer. "State your business!"

"My business is my own," he said simply.

"Insolent wretch!" the first guard growled, his mustache and goatee combo twitching with anger.

"Calm down," the second guard whispered, younger than the first, his blond hair tied back into a low ponytail. "Forgive my senior, but we must ask this question to all those who come to our gate."

"Gentleman," the young man began. "I have come a long way, from the continent, and I require rest, so if you would please stand aside."

"But of course," the younger guard complied as he lowered his spear, but the senior kept his pointed.

"You trust this bastard! You have a lot to learn!"

"He's shown no aggression, we should just let him pass!"

"Fool! He could be a spy from a rival province! Search him!"

"We have no logical reason!"

"That reason is logical enough!" As the two bickered, the newcomer could feel his targets move away. A growl escaped his lips when he could no longer sense them, they were out of his range. They could get to anywhere, and it would take longer to catch them! His hand curled into a fist as he continued to pick up on the bickering between the two guards. It was because of them that he was close to losing them! The bastards!

"Gentlemen," he said softly, making them stop. "You have done me a great injustice, and now you must pay!" The guards quickly raised their spears in defense, and by now the other guards on the battlements took notice.

"What did I tell you! I told you he was dangerous!" the older guard growled. "He doesn't have any weapons though, this should be easy!"

"Fools," the young man muttered and began to approach them. He could feel their hearts race, and their muscles tense despite their confidence. He saw beads of sweat begin to form on their foreheads, and their feet shake slightly. A dark smile crossed his lips as he basked in their fear and flexed his fingers.

"Now! Die!" the senior yelled as he attacked. The young man's smirk grew wider as the senior's spear was inches away from his face.

His hand swung upwards, and a wide jet stream of blood filled the air.

OOOOO

Sakura was confused. It had been several minutes since the group had left the town, and even though they had left in quite a hurry, that wasn't what Sakura was confused about. Ever since they had left she could feel a tense air around Li and Eriol, as if they were expecting something to happen. Meilin seemed just as confused. When she tried to talk to either of them, Li ignored her, and Eriol politely told her to be quiet. Something was wrong, but what? She was about to ask when a loud cry echoed through the forest.

"Help! Someone help!!! Please!!!" The group whirled around and saw a woman limping towards them, with a large and long trail of blood behind her. Her purple dress was saturated with her blood, and her face was a deathly pale. Eriol rushed over to the woman who collapsed the second he had her in his arms. The woman's hand was over a long and deep gash across her stomach that was bleeding greatly, her hand was covered with her own blood.

"What the hell happened to her?" Meilin asked as she and the other rushed over.

"Th...the...t...t...town..." was all the woman managed to say before her eyes rolled back and she was still.

"This wound is so deep," Eriol observed. "I'm surprised she didn't die the second she received it."

"Wh...who could have done this?" Sakura asked meekly, her stomach churning at the sight of the woman's blood. Li closed his eyes and allowed his senses to take him to the town. He felt a controlled but vicious aura, but it wasn't completely human. He felt something darker and wild within whoever or whatever was destroying the town. After a few minutes, he came to a realization.

"A half demon," he concluded. "He's going crazy in the town right now." Without a second thought Sakura sprinted down the road with Tomoyo close behind her.

"Wait you morons!" Li yelled at them, but they were long gone. "Damn it!" he growled and ran after them.

"Shall we Meilin-chan?"Eriol said as he carefully placed the woman down and followed after the others. Meilin's eyes fell to the woman's wound and lingered there for a good while before she followed her companions.

OOOOO

When Sakura and Tomoyo reached the town first, they almost threw up. Before them countless people laid on the ground, many sliced clean in two. Others had their heads mere inches away from their bodies. Blood covered the dirt ground with the houses and buildings all but sliced to ribbons. Horses laid dead in walls or on top of their former masters with five or more deep slashes in the stomachs. Women laid on top of their children in what a looked like a desperate attempt to protect them, but to no avail. Tears formed in Sakura's eyes as she took in the scene before her. For no real reason, all these people were not just killed, but destroyed by a foul tempered half-demon. There was no way she could forgive whoever did this.

"My god..." Eriol exclaimed softly. "What weapons did this?"

"It had to be some huge sword," Kero said as he popped out of Tomoyo's bag. "A normal sword couldn't do this at all."

"Why would someone do this?" Sakura whispered, her tears starting to fall. "These people were innocent, they didn't do anything!"

"Calm down," Li hissed. "Crying won't get us anywhere."

"Where do you suppose this person is?" Tomoyo asked softly.

"He's still here," Li whispered, his hand quickly drawing his sword. "I can feel him!" Everyone instantly went on guard and scanned what was left of the village for any sign of movement. Li glanced over to Meilin who had been oddly quiet, and saw that she was shaking. Her breathing was rapid and her hands were hardly in any form of guard.

"Meilin, what the hell is wrong with you?" At that moment a long sliver blur burst from a building and shot straight towards the group.

"Scatter!" Eriol shouted. The blur pierced into the wall of the building behind them and quickly retracted back.

"I'm glad you finally came," a voice said.

"Come out you bastard!" Li yelled.

"As you wish, I want to do this personally anyway." With that a young man dressed in a white cloak, wide red belt, and a large hood that covered his face stepped out from behind a house. "Satisfied?"

"Hardly," Li growled. "You slaughtered a town what the hell was that about you damn half-demon!" The young man just shrugged.

"I wanted you to come to me that's all." Sakura gritted her teeth in deep anger.

"You slaughtered innocent people just to get to us!!!" she screamed. "That's unforgivable!"

"I suppose I did," he said with a simple shrug of his shoulders. "It would have been troublesome to track you down through the forest, so I decided to draw your attention." Sakura's hand curled into a tight fist as she listened to the killer's frank and nonchalant tone. It was as if he believed he had done the reasonable thing! Fire ragged inside of her as she felt her powers moving through her faster than before. Wind circled around her hand like a storm and her power moved straight to her hand before she could even think.

With a loud yell Sakura fired a powerful blast of wind that blew rocks out of the ground and shook the buildings that were left standing. The blast slammed into the killer head on causing a large cloud of dust to form around him.

"Jeez Sakura, how about a little warning next time?" Kero said, who had latched onto Tomoyo's hair to keep from being blown away.

"What power Sakura-san," Eriol muttered.

"It's not over," Meilin whispered. The dust cloud began to settle and the killer stood before them as if nothing had happened. He hadn't even moved a centimeter.

"Was that it?" he asked simply.

"What!!!" Sakura exclaimed.

"That's impossible!" Tomoyo cried. "Sakura-chan's attack should have at least blown him a few feet, he hasn't moved at all!"

"How about this!" Kero quickly transformed into his beast form and blasted a powerful stream of fire that hit the killer dead on as well. "HA! Let's see him survive that!"

The smoke cleared to reveal the killer without a single burn on him, or his cloak. Kero's eyes widened in shock, and fired four large fire balls that all slammed into the killer, but it didn't affect him at all.

"And you're supposed to be the great beast of legend, quite disappointing."

"What the hell is this guy made of!!" the beast yelled, and fired another stream of fire, only to receive the same result. The killer casually wiped specks of dust from his cloak and folded his arms as if waiting for the next attack. Kero let out a fierce growl, and took a deep breath.

"Save your energy you moron!" Li barked. "It's obvious special attacks won't work on him!"

"So what are supposed to do?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Attack again and make some smoke while Meilin and I attack from behind," the swordsman ordered. "Got it?"

"Right," the girl nodded.

"Get ready Meilin," Li said.

"R-r-right..." the ruby-eyed girl replied hesitantly

"Ready...now!" With those words Kero fired another blast of fire that collided with the villain, making a large smoke screen. Within moments Li was behind the killer and swung his sword towards his neck.

CLANG!!!!!

Li's sword bounced off the killer's skin like a ball and vibrated against his hands almost making him drop it. The villain slowly turned around with a smile, and slammed his foot into the swordsman's chest, making him fly back into a house.

Meilin leaped into the air with a yell and slammed a strong sidekick into the white-clad killer's face, but the young man looked as though he hadn't felt anything. Meilin flipped backwards and charged with a fury of rapid kicks to his chest, stomach, legs, and face, but none left so much as a scratch on the killer. With a loud yell the ruby-eyed girl shot out a fast sidekick that slammed into something as hard as a steel wall. Meilin gritted her teeth in pain and jumped back to see that the villain had blocked her kick with just the palm of his hand.

"Want to try again?" he asked.

"Element Lighting!" The villain narrowed his eyes and jumped out of the cloud of smoke to avoid the blast. "Eriol, Sakura, Daidouji, he's heading your way!" Eriol slammed his hands to the ground causing sharp tipped stone pillars to rise from the ground and join together at the tips forming a fast prison that held the villain for now.

"Got him!" Kero cheered. The killer just smirked.

"Clever, but not good enough." The white-clad fighter stomped on the ground and instantly ten long and thick blades shot out from the ground and stretched towards the doctor. The doctor quickly jumped back and watched as the blades retracted back into the ground like claws.

"How did he do that!" the dark-haired doctor muttered to himself. The second his feet touched the ground sliver blurs shot up from the ground around him and met at their tips, trapping him. "What the-!"

"Not so fun when it's you trapped is it?" Eriol looked up to see that the half-demon had escaped from his earth prison and was making his way towards the new metal prison.

"Watery!!!" A fast jet of water slammed the white-clad villain into the wall of a house, but he easily made his way out and focused his attention on Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero while he wiped the dust from his cloak.

"Element Lighting!!" The killer quickly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast of lighting from behind, and whirled around just in time to see Li come down with his sword. The sword collided with the villain's head only to bounce off yet again, causing Li to stumble in the air. The swordsman back flipped to re-gain his balance, but the half-demon was nose-to-nose with him within a second.

A white blur flashed through the air that Li quickly jumped away from only to find that a deep gash had formed on his chest. Before he had the chance to wonder why the killer was on the attack again. His arm swung in a fast horizontal arc, but Li easily dodged and attacked with a thrust only to have his sword bounce off the killer's body again. The half-demon attacked with a fast round kick that Li barely had time to see before he jumped over the attack and landed near Sakura and Tomoyo.

"Damn," Kero muttered. "What the hell is this guy made of? None of our attacks are working at all! What is this guy?"

"Good question," Li agreed.

"Take this!" Meilin yelled from behind, and slammed a powerful kick that shook the ground into the killer's skull, but it had no affect. In a white blur, the killer whirled around, grabbed Meilin by the throat, and jumped to a high roof.

"Meilin!" The group exclaimed, and the killer disappeared behind the walls.

OOOOO

"Let me go!!!" the ruby-eyed girl yelled as the white-clad half-demon took her deeper and deeper into the forest. Eventually, he settled onto a clearing five miles away from the town. He dropped his hand, and Meilin quickly jumped away from him.

"Calm down," he said simply. "I don't want to fight."

"The hell with that!" the girl yelled. "Who are you! What the hell do you want with me!"

"Meilin, Meilin, Meilin," he shook his head in disappointment. "I'm hurt, I was so hoping you would remember me."

"What the hell are you talking about! I don't know you!" The half-demon reached for his hood, and slowly pulled it back, revealing his face.

Meilin's rage only increased.

"I should have known it was you!" she growled. "What the hell are you doing here, Jin Shu!?!"

"Uncle has a proposition for you...sister..."

AN: First off, I am extremely, very, totally sorry for the two month delay. Long story short: school. My grades are horrible! I'm actually failing math! (Well I'm not good at math anyway, but I've never got a failing grade on my interim!) I still hate my teacher, but still damn! My dad even said that he would sell my game consuls, games, and computer on E-bay if I didn't bring them up, and he was serious! Damn! Also I'm sure you guys are wondering what happened to "Sweet Child of Mine" long story short again, it was giving me a lot of problems. I don't know how to explain it, but the whole situation, the descriptions, everything about it was giving me trouble. And I just couldn't get it long enough, and I thought it was boring! Then I decided to cut my losses and go on with the chapter I had in mind after it since I pretty much have that planned out. So "Sweet Child of Mine" is postponed to a later date. When exactly, as soon as I can figure out how to write it. Anyway here's the preview for the next chapter (which I swear won't take two months! Hopefully...)

_Sakura: Hey Tomoyo, don't you think Meilin has been acting strange since our fight with that killer? _

_Tomoyo: Yes, she's been sneaking off at night, hardly says anything, and she never even argues with Kero-chan anymore! _

_Sakura: Yeah, but she's acting even worse tonight. What's wrong with her? Huh? You want to talk with me Meilin? What about? _

_Tomoyo: What is this proposition that Meilin was offered? And will she actually go through with it? _

_Sakura: You'll just have to find out next time in "Lu Tsung's Offer: A Dangerous Proposition!" You won't want to miss this! _


	72. Lu Tsung's Offer: A Deadly Proposition

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 72

"I should have known it was you!" Meilin growled. "What the hell are you doing here, Jin Shu!?"

"Uncle has a proposition for you...sister..."

Despite herself, Meilin froze. Her rage was halted by her brother's words, and her hands that were once curled into tight fists loosened. Her eyes looked up at her brother. Her bright ruby eyes searched at the dark cobalt blue of Jin Shu's eyes for any sign of a lie. His shoulder length metallic white hair swaying slightly in the breeze. His thin lips were curled at the corners into a slight smirk, but Meilin could not find any hints of a lie in her brother.

"A-are you serious?" Meilin replied softly after a time.

"Do you really believe I would come all this way just to lie to you sister?" Meilin's rage quickly restored itself and she gritted her teeth.

"Would you stop with the "sister" crap! You've never seen me as your sister, and I've never seen you as your brother! We're not even fully related anyway!" Jin Shu shrugged.

"At any rate, like I said, our uncle has an offer for you Meilin."

"What kind of offer?" Meilin asked quickly, her hands re-curling themselves into fists.

"He has need of your skills," Jin Shu replied simply. "That is all I am permitted to say."

"All you're permitted? You'd better tell me everything or...!"

"Or what? Did you forget that your attacks have no affect on me." At that small reminder, Meilin gritted her teeth tighter and dug her foot into the ground to stop herself from rushing her brother at that moment.

"Just tell me Jin-Shu!" Jin-Shu merely turned his back on his enraged sister, making her anger flare all the more.

"He is in need of your skills, that's all. Now you either come with me to where he is, or you stay. But I must tell you my dear sister, it is worth your while," With that Jin-Shu walked away into the forest, leaving Meilin frozen in her spot.

What was she supposed to do? Her mind was screaming for her to turn around and run back to the others who were probably looking for her right this moment, but she could not deny that her curiosity had been stirred. What was it that her uncle wanted? Why would he contact her after all this time? Though she had to admit that her uncle was not her favorite person in her life, in fact she hated the man, but still she couldn't just walk away from an offer like the one Jin-Shu had told her.

Her foot moved forward to follow her brother, but she quickly pulled it back in indecision. Meilin looked to see her brother's white figure slowly walking out of sight, and when Jin-Shu was out of her range, so was the offer. Meilin gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, she wanted to see what the offer was, and if it were her skills that her uncle needed, then it couldn't be that hard. But her memories reminded her of how brutal and deceiving her uncle could be. But even with those memories as her moral guide, Meilin couldn't help but allow her foot to inch forward. Her mind screamed for her to pull her foot back, but she allowed her left to move forward, then her right again, before she knew it she was following Jin-Shu to her uncle's offer.

"Glad to see you saw it our uncle's way," Jin-Shu said simply as Meilin fell into step with him.

OOOOO

Meilin had lost track of time as she followed her brother into the forest. They had quickly gone off the established trail and were walking through the thick brush filled with low hanging vines, uprooted tree roots, jagged rocks, and a narrow slope with fresh mud. Meilin had to suppress the urge to let out a scream in frustration. A part of her truly wanted to use the nearly impassable road as an excuse to turn back, but she still allowed her body to follow Jin-Shu.

"So what's the deal?" she barked after minutes of silence. "I thought our uncle was still home, what the hell is doing here?"

"He has business to take of," Jin-Shu said simply, and said no more. Meilin huffed, and decided not to say anymore, knowing she wouldn't get straight answers.

As Meilin followed her brother her mind couldn't help but wander. The memories of her uncle flashed through her mind, and before she knew it they had consumed her.

_Flashback _

_Rain poured on the earth at the constant rhythm with thunder booming, and lighting lacing across the sky. Thick droplets of rain pounded on the ground making advisability all but impossible. Rain flooded the gutter ways with the water rising over the walkway. Lighting flashed, lighting the sky revealing a little girl kneeling before a fallen figure. _

_The girl's once beautiful pink floral Chinese-styled dress was covered with mud, and torn at the sleeves and skirt. Her soaked hair clinging to her body with what was left of her affluent hair ribbons near her knees torn off. Tears flowed down the girl's cheeks as her eyes fixated on the fallen figure her. _

"_M-M-mommy...!!" she cried. Her voice echoing against the high walls of the alley, and overpowering the roar of the rain. _

"_How sad a little girl without a mother," a deep voice said from behind the little girl. The girl whirled around and saw a tall board man standing in the alleyway's entrance, his fingers wrapped around a thick cigar, the smoke rising into the pouring rain. The little girl froze in fear as the man walked closer to her. _

"_St-stay back!" she cried. "St-stay away! Mommy! Mommy!" The man shook his head, and extended his thick hand with rich sliver and diamond rings on at least three of his fingers. _

"_Your mother's gone little Meilin. But if you come with me, I'll make sure you're never alone again." Meilin froze as her eyes laid on the extended hand. The rain drumming in her ears, the mud and puddles soaking through her dress and into her skin, and her mother's body just inches away from her. The little girl shivered as fresh tears began to roll down her cheeks. Lighting flashed across the sky as Meilin's little hand met his. The man grinned revealing his white teeth, putting Meilin at ease. _

_  
"Don't worry. If you stick with me I'll make you the sharpest sword in the bunch." _

_Flashback end_

"We're here," Jin-Shu said simply, snapping Meilin out of her memories. She looked up to see they had stopped before a narrow valley that lead to a large lake with a loud waterfall towering over it.

"This is it? Where the hell is the hideout?" Meilin muttered. Jin-Shu ignored her and simply walked towards the mouth of the valley only to walk through a greenish blue glow that flashed when he approached. Meilin slapped her forehead.

"Barrier," Meilin shrugged and walked towards the greenish blue barrier. The barrier gave way to her body, but as she passed through it felt as though a powerful wind was trying to push her out. Crossing her arms over her body Meilin struggled to make it through to the other side. Electricity zapped around her and the air itself seemed to become small knives stabbing into her skin. She gritted her teeth and pushed through until she saw the other side. With a mental yell Meilin walked through to the other side.

Meilin emerged into a dark corridor made of dark brown stones with torches hanging on the walls providing dim light. The ruby-eyed girl took a deep breath and began to make her way down the dim hallway. Minutes later the sight of large wooden double doors caught her eye. The golden dragon knocker glaring at her with its flame orange eyes as if silently daring her to knock the door. With a slight growl, Meilin rapped on the door three times sending hard thumps to echo down the damp hallway.

The door let out a loud deep creek as they cracked open. Meilin felt her heart pound in her ears as she crossed the threshold. The floor was a damp cold stone with a perpetual dripping of water from various cracks in the roof above. The room was dimly lit by torches on the walls that looked ready to be blown out any second. Meilin took a deep breath and took a step forward when a large circular object dropped towards her.

The ruby-eyed girl jumped back allow the object to slam into the ground making a deep hole in the ground. Meilin looked up to see a large muscular man smirking at her. His upper body was bare of clothing to showcase his boulder like muscles. His jet black leather pants allowed his lower body to disappear within the darkness of the room. The man's bald head reflected the small amount of light in the room. He chuckled as he stroked his thick red bread while raising his weapon onto his shoulder.

"Well, it looks like you still have your reflexes little Meilin," he said, his voice deep and smug.

"It's not like was on vacation while I was gone Dao Wang," Meilin spat, her eyes catching the large metal hammer on the large man's shoulder.

"But still," a soft nasal voice said from behind Dao Wang. "Your reflexes are exactly .02 seconds slower than before."

"What was that...!" Meilin growled. A short man dressed in a black suit, and rectangular glasses stepped out from behind Dao Wang. His pale blue eyes scanned Meilin up and down while his left hand pushed his glasses, and his right hand made quick calculations on his abacus. His short black bowl cut hair seemed to be nonexistent in the dark room. The short man's pale skin allowed Meilin to see the smug smirk on his face as he watched her.

"Your going to attack with a standard side kick then follow up with a roundhouse kick to my temple," he stated. Meilin grimaced. The man laughed. "I can read you like an open book dear Meilin. You aren't exactly the queen of subtly."

"I swear Gao Ming...one day I'll kill your arrogant ass!" she swore. Gao Ming merely laughed again.

"I'll watch my back." Meilin scowled before turning away from the arrogant man. She was about to take several calming breaths when another voice caught her attention.

"I don't see why we need that brat," a harsh voice scoffed in a dark corner. "She was useless before, she'll be useless now."

"What'd you say!" Meilin yelled at the voice. "Come out say that to my face Zhe Ren!"

"Gladly," the voice said. At that moment a girl flipped out of the darkness. Her violet eyes glaring daggers at Meilin as she brushed her short green hair from her eyes. Meilin's ruby eyes met Zhe Ren's violet as she looked over the girl's dark blue ninja outfit, and the black belt that held eight pouches.

"I said..." Zhe Ren started. "You were useless before, and you'll be useless now."

"That's what I thought you said," Meilin replied. At that moment her leg shot through the air and was inches away from the ninja girl's face when Zhe Ren flipped over the attack and landed behind Meilin.

"Too slow." Meilin felt her leg kick out from under her, causing her to drop to the stone floor. The ruby-eyed girl quickly slammed her hand on the floor and swung her lower body toward the ninja girl. Zhe Ren crossed her arms over her body absorbing most of the blow, but was still knocked back to the far wall. Springing to her feet, Meilin dashed towards Zhe Ren, turning her body into another kick. Seeing Meilin's intent, Zhe Ren reached for one of the pouches on her belt.

"Knock it off you two," a soft, but commanding voice scolded. Meilin and Zhe Ren froze in their places as an older girl with long blond hair, and green eyes walked out of the shadows. Her dark green robes flowed from behind her, and a long thin sword was placed on her hip. Perched on her shoulder was a snow-white bird with a long, sharp, and slim beak.

"Qin Lei," Meilin muttered.

"Zhe Ren, I thought the master told you that Meilin was our guest. We are not to hurt her," Qin Lei said.

"She asked for it," Zhe Ren muttered under her breath,

"What was that!" Meilin hissed.

"You heard me!"

"Silence!" Qin Lei barked. The bird on her shoulder squawked in agreement.

"Yes my children do try to get along," a deep and smooth voice said from above. "For this is a happy occasion. Dear Meilin has finally returned home to her loving uncle!"

Meilin heart thumped hard against her chest as she looked up to see her "loving uncle" coming down a set of stone stairs. He was exactly the way she remembered him. His shoulder length black hair, his cold black eyes, his hands the held many expensive rings, the thick black animal fur on his shoulders that draped over his black silk kimono, and the large cigar that was placed between his lips.

This was Lu Tsung Li. Her uncle. Her teacher. Her endless nightmare.

"Thank you very much Jin Shu for bringing her here," he said to the white clad man. Jin Shu bowed to his uncle.

"It was pleasure uncle," he said simply.

"You think you can stick around for a little while longer? I may need your help with a few annoyances."

"I will linger until you say my mission is complete uncle." Lu Tsung scoffed as he looked between Jin Shu, and Meilin.

"You may only half of Li blood in your veins Jin Shu, but you have all the characteristics of a full blown Li clan member. Wish I could say the same thing about this one," Lu Tsung said eying Meilin.

"Why the hell did you call me here Lu Tsung?" she growled, her hands in tight fists.

"Now is that any way to treat your loving uncle?" he said as he blew out a thin stream of smoke. "Especially the one who taught you to fight?"

"You didn't teach me a damn thing you bastard!" Meilin yelled, her temper starting flare. "Now tell me what this damn ordeal is now!!" Lu Tsung let out another stream of smoke before laughing.

"Still have that anger I see. Good good!" He inhaled more of his cigar before speaking again. "I'll get straight to the point little Meilin since that's the only way you'll understand anyway."

"You'd better," she hissed.

"You have something that both your father and I want," he said simply. Then he shrugged. "Or rather one of your new friends does."

"You mean Kinomoto-san's necklace."

"Yes. It is an item of great power one of seven actually. But I don't need to tell you that. You and our mutual friend Syaoran already know of the legend." Lu Tsung exhaled another smoke stream. "Simply put your father and I have an interest in these jewels. Your father has made several attempts to gather them, but they are very difficult to find."

"You expect me to believe that?" Meilin snapped. "That bastard is a powerful magician. He could find those jewels in a heartbeat!" Lu Tsung chuckled.

"These jewels are not ordinary magical items," her uncle replied. "You should know that. But anyway; your father has sent out a lapdog to find these jewels, and he has been slightly successful. He's even managed to come into contact with one who is willing to give the jewel to him for a certain price, but I won't bore you with the details..."

"I know what your going to say, and you can forget it!" Meilin yelled. "I'm not take the jewel from Kinomoto-san!" With that Meilin turned on her heel and began to walk away.

"This is your chance to be welcomed back into the clan with open arms." Meilin stopped. "I know what has been troubling you ever since I first found you. You, the only person without magical abilities, in such a powerful clan. Your father shunned you, your aunt wanted nothing to do with you, all you want is to be seen, to be acknowledged. You've done everything to gain their praise. Even engaging yourself to Syaoran in the hopes that being engaged to someone like him would overlook your lack of ability, but still they shun you."

Meilin made a fist.

"Shut up," she whispered.

"This your chance little Meilin," Lu Tsung continued. "If you do this you'll have all that you have ever wanted. Acceptance in the clan, your father's praise and love, and perhaps even your aunt's blessing."

"Stop it," she muttered, her body shaking.

"How long have you known this Kinomoto anyway?" he added. "A few months? How can you say that really know her? That not much time to build a solid bond. You said so yourself before, the only friend and love you've ever had in this world is Syaoran, all others are of no importance."

"No...stop it..."

"All I am asking is this one favor. This one favor Meilin, and all that your have strive for your entire life will be accomplished. You have my word."

"Your...your lying..."

"Of course," he continued. "If you refuse this simple proposition, I will simply revoke it. But how soon do you think a chance like this will arise again?"

"S-s-soon. I'll...just marry Syaoran and..."

"Wake up Meilin!" Lu Tsung snapped. "Do you really think he gives a damn about you? It's clear that he's not over his first love, why do you even bother!"

"I'll...make him fall in love...with me..."

"Don't be a fool Meilin. I am offering you a path to all that you desire and you wish to turn away from it for a such a weak hope? Who's to say that Syaoran does recover from his loss, but instead of falling for you, he falls for one of your companions. Like this Kinomoto girl for instance."

"N-no that..." Meilin made her fist tighter as her body stared to shake uncontrollably. "He...he wouldn't...!"

"You don't have to answer right now. I'll return you to your companions. If you do agree come back with the jewel. You have four days. In four days I will leave to go back home. In four days, your chance disappears."

Meilin heard the sound of clapping hands, and before she knew it she was back in the forest. Her legs buckled as if there were a great pressure on her shoulders, and she collapsed to her knees. Her body shook uncontrollably while her face scrunched together in an effort to keep her hot tears from falling.

"Meilin-chan!!" she heard from the bushes. To her right Sakura burst from the bush with a look of delight in her eyes. "Thank goodness you're all right!"

"Hey guys!!" Kero yelled as he popped out from Sakura's pocket. "We found her!! She's fine!!"

"Meilin-chan is something wrong?" Sakura asked when she looked closer at Meilin. "Did you get hurt somewhere?"

"No, no, I'm fine," she replied.

"Good. We've been so worried about you." As Sakura spoke, Meilin saw the jewel dangle from Sakura's neck. It seemed to sway back and forth as if hypnotizing her or taunting her to take it then and there.

"Jeez Meilin where the hell have you been?" she heard Li snap, breaking the trance. "After that bastard grabbed you, your energy signal completely disappeared!"

"We feared the worst," Eriol added.

"Did he do anything to you?" Tomoyo asked.

"No, no, I'm fine," Meilin replied as she got to her feet.

"Why would he want to take an annoying brat like you is the big question," Kero said. The group tensed, expecting a loud retort from Meilin, but none came. Instead Meilin was looking down, her eyes dazed and distracted as if the rocks on the ground were more important than Kero's insult.

"Meilin-chan are you all right?" Sakura asked carefully.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Meilin replied snapping out of her odd trance. "Now let's go, I'm sure Syaoran wants to keep moving, right Syaoran?"

Li raised his eyebrow. "Yeah...I guess."

"See. Now come on guys let's go before he come back." She flashed the group an odd smile before going into the bushes towards the road.

"...I'm I the only one who thought that was weird?" Kero asked after a few moments of stunned silence.

"Not at all," Tomoyo replied.

"Just checking."

"Maybe something really did happen when that guy took her," Sakura suggested.

"That much is clear, but the question is what," Li said.

"Well, Meilin has always been a fast healer. I'm sure in a few days she'll be back to her usual, loud self," Eriol figured.

OOOOO

Three days later, Meilin only seemed to get worse. At first it had started off as small odd irregularities in her behavior, such as delayed responses, staring off into space, and falling behind every now and then. Then it started to get worse. She started to ignore questions all together, pick at her food, and even ignore Kero. By the third day she wasn't eating at all, just seemed to ignore everyone, wonder off by herself at night, and stared off into space for most of the day. Needless to say Sakura and the others were worried.

It was evening on the third day when the group decided to make camp in a large clearing of the forest. Meilin stood against a tree looking at her feet as the others made preparations for camp. She held a strong grip on the tree bark as her mind wondered.

'It's tomorrow,' she thought with gritted teeth. Tomorrow was the time to make her decision. Tomorrow was the day her uncle would return to their home, and take his proposition with him. Frustration rumbled inside of her. The answer to this entire ordeal was obvious, turn down the deal. She knew her uncle's character, and knew there was a high chance that he was lying. Not only that, but why would she betray the friends that she made just for something that she knew was probably a lie.

But what if he wasn't lying? What if just this once her uncle was sincere, and really meant there was a chance that she would be accepted into the clan? It was a simple thing really. All she had to do was take the necklace while Kinomoto was sleeping, and she would have her chance! It wasn't as if she had to kill her. And as much as she hated to admit it, her uncle was right, how long would it take for another chance like this to come to her again?

Meilin let out a small growl. She felt as if her body was at war with itself. Her heart was pounding while her stomach twisted together making her nauseated. She felt lightheaded and tense. The world around her seem to spin while the air heated up around her. She heard a voice in her mind scream:

"Do it!"

But then another voice shouted even louder:

"Don't!"

"DO IT!"

"DON'T!"

"DO IT!!"

"DON'T!!"

"SHUT UP!!" she screamed. The voices stopped, the air was cool again, and her friends were all staring at her.

"Are you all right Meilin-chan?" Tomoyo asked.

"Maybe she's running a fever," Eriol figured, and placed a hand on her forehead. She quickly slapped it away.

"I'm fine," she said firmly.

"No your not!" Li snapped. "Randomly screaming is not a sign that your fine. Now what's wrong with you!"

"It's nothing!"

"Bullshit! Now tell me what's wrong!"

"Do you ever tell me what's wrong with you!" Meilin snapped back.

"I don't act like a freakin' crazy person when I have problems!"

"Yeah you just going around snapping at people who are trying to help you!"

"Yeah cause that's worlds apart from what your doing right now!" By then Eriol held Li by the shoulders trying to calm him down, while Sakura and Tomoyo were struggling to keep Meilin back.

"Stop it Syaoran this isn't helping matters!" Eriol hissed.

"Why don't you just stay out of my business Syaoran!"

"You want me out fine!" Li yelled pushing Eriol aside. "Go and solve your problem, but don't crawling back to me when you screw things up, like you always do!" Meilin froze, and made a fist.

"Li how could you say something like that!" Sakura exclaimed. "He doesn't mean it Meilin-chan. He's just mad."

"I get it," Meilin muttered. "You want me gone, fine I'll go! I've had enough you anyway!"

"Feeling's mutual!"

"Syaoran you idiot!" With that Meilin ran into the woods with tears rolling down her face.

"Go apologize!" Eriol hissed.

"Why bother," Li scoffed. "She'll come back."

"You didn't need to say those things to her Li!" Sakura said. "What if she doesn't come back!" Li just rolled his eyes and went to sit by the fire. Sakura gritted her teeth in annoyance. If Li wasn't going to do anything, she would have to.

"Meilin-chan!" she yelled as she ran into the forest. "Come back."

"Sakura-chan wait!" Tomoyo exclaimed and was about to follow, but Eriol stopped her.

"It would probably be better if just one person went. In the state Meilin is in, she'd most likely see multiple people as a threat," he explained.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It will be better this way."

OOOOO

"Meilin-chan!" Sakura called. She had gone the same direction Meilin had taken, but had yet to the ruby-eyed girl. Sakura knew Meilin couldn't of had that much of a head start, she had to be close by. But so far nothing. She called again, but no response. She about to give up and go back to the others when she heard a loud crash. Not soon after something hit the ground that made the area shake for a few seconds. The same thing happened a few seconds later, and again not soon after. Sakura dashed towards the noises, and found Meilin standing in a clearing, angrily kicking down trees.

"What do you want Kinomoto-san?" she asked bitterly, kicking down another tree. "Syaoran too much of a coward to apologize on his own."

"No it's not like that..." Sakura started. "I'm worried about you Meilin. You haven't been yourself for the past few days."

"I'm fine!" she hissed, another tree went down. Sakura sighed.

"No your not. Please Meilin-chan. I'm your friend. We're all friends, we can help you. Or at least talk about it with us, maybe that will make you feel better."

"You wouldn't understand."

"You never know until you say something." Meilin tensed, and looked over her shoulder at Sakura. She saw genuine kindness, and concern in her bright eyes. She felt the anger and frustration in her chest melt away and give way to a warm comforting feeling. She sighed and said before she could stop herself,

"My uncle offered me a deal, and I'm not sure whether or not to take it."

"What kind of deal?"

"I-If I do something for him, he'll help me gain favor back home."

"Well that's a good thing isn't it?"

"I-I guess..."

"What do you have to do for him?" Meilin turned away as if ashamed.

"No, it's nothing. Never mind."

"Please Meilin-chan. I can't help if I don't know what's going on." Meilin looked at the ground and gritted her teeth. She squeezed her eyes shut as if hoping it was all a bad dream she was trying to escape from. Finally she opened her eyes, and muttered quietly,

"Kinomoto-san..."

"Hoe...?"

"I'm sorry." Before Sakura knew it Meilin disappeared, and she suddenly felt a blunt force slam into her neck. Her legs gave way as she slowly fell to the ground. The world started to grow dark. The last thing she saw Meilin standing over her with the necklace in her hands.

"Meilin...chan..." she whispered, and lost consciousness.

Meilin stood over Sakura's unconscious form with a look of shock, and horror. She had done it. She had knocked her out, and taken the jewel with ease. She stared at the gem in her shaking hand, and quickly put it in her pocket. It was done, and she couldn't take it back. The only thing she could do was look forward to her new future.

She took one last look at Sakura before sprinting off into the woods towards her uncle, and her future.

OOOOO

From within his lair Lu Tsung let out a smile. In front of him was a crystal ball that had shown him Meilin decision. He rubbed the ball fondly as if congratulating Meilin before turning to his group below.

"Meilin has made her decision, and is coming here. Make sure she reaches here with no interruption," he ordered. "Go!"

"Yes sir!" Lu Tsung clapped his hands and his enforcers disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. He looked at the crystal ball again and saw Meilin running as fast she could through the forest.

He let out a dark laugh.

"Come to me dear Meilin!"

AN: Man I'd be surprised if anyone still reads this fic. I'm really really really really really really really really really sorry for the six month hiatus. A whole lot of shit that's too long to go into got in the way. From college applications, graduation (Yes I graduated from High School!! Whoooo!!), and other stuff. But mostly I've been working on original fiction. It's a fantasy story with a Feudal Japan backdrop (since most fantasy novels take place in Medieval Europe, I decided to be different.) But I soon realized that original fiction is a hell of a lot harder than fan fiction. (I knew that going in, but it was much harder than I thought.) So far the only solid characters are the main character his master, and his brother. I'm still fiddling around with the plot, side characters (since every hero needs a group), and the villains. It's a long process, and I only know the beginning and the ending for sure, the middle is still really iffy. But I'm sure you're really concerned with the fate of this fic. Yes it will continue, I'm back into the swing of things. Sometimes I may take hiatus to work on my orginal piece. I'm thinking of posting it on but I'm not sure since I don't think its that good. I know I want to get it published. I mean the guy who wrote the _Eragon _got it published by the time he finished High School and look how that turned out. A Bestseller, and a movie! (Okay the movie wasn't all that great), but think of the money the dude must be making! And probably no older than my older brother. (He's 19). So I figured why not throw my hat in the ring. But DAMN! It's hard. But I'll get through it somehow. Anyway, here's the preview for the next chapter!

_Sakura: My head...hoe...! Mom's necklace it's gone! _

_Tomoyo: What? Who took it? _

_Sakura: Meilin-chan...!_

_Tomoyo: We have to find her. But it looks like these people aren't going to make it easy. _

_Kero: Bring 'em on! I'll kick their asses! _

_Sakura: So join us next time in Seven Deadly Jewels: The Hunt: Lu Tsung Enforcers! See you soon! _


	73. The Hunt: Lu Tsung Enforcers

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 73

"It's done," Lu Tsung reported into a bowl of water. "Meilin has taken the jewel and is on her way here." A voice chuckled from the water bowl. Viga.

"Had I'd known it would be this easy, I would have sent for you a long time ago," the white haired man said. Lu Tsung shrugged.

"It was a simple matter really. I know my dear niece Meilin better than that Syoaran or that fool Eriol."

"How soon will she get there?" Viga asked. "My client is getting rather impatient."

"Knowing Meilin, I predict in less than three hours time." Viga let out an impressed whistle.

"You really think she can get there that fast? Her group did cover three days worth of ground after all...." It was Lu Tsung's turn to chuckle.

"Meilin is like a little puppy. Dangle a treat in front of her and she'll do all kinds of tricks."

"Well then, I will be there shortly."

"I'll be waiting." The reflection of Viga disappeared, and Lu Tsung returned to his seat with a chuckle. "Come to me Meilin!"

OOOOO

Meilin dashed through the forest faster than she thought was possible. The forest became a mixture of green and brown blurs as she sprinted with all her might. Her legs pounded against the ground like horse, her breath rapid, but controlled. The air whipped against her face, and her arms pumped up and down in a controlled manner. She looked up desperately at the rising sun and noted that she was running out of time. It was already dawn, and she was still nowhere near Lu Tsung's hideaway. She mentally called out to her chi to push more power into her legs, but the response was a weak pulse. Her heart started beating faster and faster until she could run no longer. She leaned against a tall tree to regain herself.

"D-damn it...." she muttered angrily. "What a time to use too much chi." It would take a while for her to recover, and that was time she could be using to get to her uncle. "It can't be helped I guess."

Meilin dropped to her knees and allowed herself to rest. But as she allowed her chi to recover, a small voice whispered in her head.

She had done it. She took the jewel from Sakura. She had just insured her way into the clan that had denied her for so long. All she had to do was give it her uncle and everything would be corrected in her world. But something wasn't right.

She felt empty.

Meilin opened her tightly closed palm, and stared at the jewel. She couldn't feel it her hand. She couldn't feel the rough tree she was leaning against, or the light breeze that was flowing through the woods. She ran her other hand against the jewel and to her surprise realized that she didn't even feel that. Frantically she ran her hand against the ground and the tree, and felt nothing at all.

"W-w-what's wrong with me....?" she muttered in a terrified tone. She quickly stood up only to be met with dizziness and nausea. She looked down at the jewel again, and remembered leaving Sakura unconscious on the forest floor, vulnerable to nature, and the ruthless forest predators. Her nausea only seemed to worsen, and sweat began to pour from her forehead. Before long she couldn't take anymore, and vomited on the tree, but that didn't cure anything for long.

The nausea returned even stronger. And the dizziness became so bad that it looked as if the world itself was spinning. Meilin gripped her head and let out a long antagonizing scream. She looked over to the nearest tree and slammed her head against it. The sudden pain easily overpowered her odd symptoms.

Feeling slowly returned, the nausea seemed to vanish, and her dizziness cleared. She wiped the blood from her forehead, and tore some cloth from her outfit to use as a makeshift bandage.

"This'll do until I get Eriol to......" but she stopped herself. After what she did there was no way any of the others would ever so much as look at her. She wouldn't even be surprised if Syaoran planned to kill her the next time they met. She was alone. But the words of her uncle sounded in her mind from long ago.

"As long as you have me little Meilin you're never alone in this world."

"That's right," she whispered to herself. She had her uncle, and soon the entire clan. Even her father. She didn't need Syaoran and the others anymore. She'd found her path back home. All that was left was to walk down it.

With her new resolve, Meilin got to her feet and summoned her chi to her legs. Without looking back, she continued her path down the dark forest path.

OOOOO

"...ra-chan!" she heard.

".....ura-chan!" she heard again. She knew the voices, but didn't have the strength to respond.

".....kura-san!" Another voice, but the darkness around her was taking away her strength. A sudden warm light engulfed her. The darkness faded away, and her strength returned.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes. A haze clouded her vision, and her body felt like it weighed a ton. Her neck seemed to throb all the way down to her to her bones. She was tempted to close her eyes again, but a warm hand touched her flesh and cleared away the pain and the haze.

"Sakura-chan!" she heard Tomoyo cry. "Thank goodness you're alright." Sakura started to sit up with the help of Eriol.

"Jeez what the heck happened to you?" Kero asked as he floated over her. "You go off after that brat, then you don't come back for hours, and then Tomoyo finds you on the ground!"

"I......I'm...not sure...." Sakura muttered. "I remember talking to Meilin-chan for a little bit, but after that......"

"Did she say anything strange?" Eriol asked as he looked over her for more injuries.

"N-no....I don't think......oh no!!!" Out of habit, her hand went to play with her necklace, only to find that it was gone. "Hoooeeee!!!! Mom's necklace is gone!!!!!"

"No way!" Kero exclaimed. "That damn brat must have taken it!"

"No, Meilin wouldn't do something like that!" Sakura replied.

"What makes you so sure!" Kero shot back.

"Why would Meilin-chan take it?" Tomoyo asked. "I've never seen her hold any interest in it."

"What happened?" Li asked as he stepped out from the brush.

"That stupid brat took Sakura's necklace!" Kero reported. Fury filled Li's eyes.

"Damn it Meilin!!!!" he shouted and brought down a tree with a punch. "We have to find her now!"

"We don't know if Meilin really took it...." Sakura attempted, but Li just growled to silence her.

"Who else would take it!" he snapped. "Damn her! What the hell was she thinking?!"

"Think back Sakura-san," Eriol pressed. "Did Meilin-chan say anything unusual or strange?"

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, and struggled to remember. She mentally called on her memory of the night before bringing herself back to her conversation with Meilin. She remembered Meilin kicking down trees, and being sincerely upset. Then she remembered....

"She said something about her uncle....." she started. Li and Eriol's eyes widened in horror.

"Her uncle....!" Eriol breathed.

"Lu Tsung......!" Li growled, the fury in eyes intensifying. Before Sakura could say anything else, Li sprinted into the brush.

"Syoaran wait!" Eriol called. "How do you know it's that way?"

"I can still feel her aura!" was Li's distant response.

"Stay here," Eriol instructed to the girls. "This enemy is greater than you know." And with that the doctor chased after his friend. Sakura wasted no time in getting to her feet despite the pain in her neck.

"Kero-chan, Tomoyo-chan, let's go," she declared.

"Are you sure?" Kero said. "Maybe you should rest a little bit more."

"No!" was Sakura's sharp reply. "Meilin-chan is our friend too! If she's in trouble we have to help her no matter what! Right Tomoyo-chan?"

"Right."

"If you're gonna be that way...." Kero quickly transformed into his beast form. "Then let's catch up!" Sakura and Tomoyo hopped onto Keroberos's back, and the beast flew into the brush following Li and Eriol.

'Meilin-chan,' Sakura thought. 'What's going on?'

OOOOO

Meilin nearly collapsed when she reached the clearing before her. She had been running all morning with no rest or food. Her legs ached from overuse, and she struggled to get her breath under control. Her eyes began to drop, and she accepted her body's request for a quick rest.

_Flashback_

"_Well well students, look who it is!" a middle aged master exclaimed, as Lu Tsung entered his dojo. "If it isn't Lu Tsung. What can I do for you?" _

_Lu Tsung lit a thick cigar, much to the master's disapproval, and blew a ring in his face before answering. _

"_You're late with your payment Wong Shu," he said simply. "The protection from me and my men is a lifetime investment. If you don't pay....I can't ensure you're safety." _

_Wong Shu flinched before standing upright and facing Lu Tsung with fire in his eyes. _

"_I've had enough of you and you're foolish protection money. I am finished with you Lu Tsung!" _

_Lu Tsung merely laughed as he took another breath of his cigar. "That really is too bad Wong. But it does give me a perfect opportunity to test my new weapon." _

"_New weapon?" Wong Shu repeated before laughing. "I don't see any weapon on you. And besides even if you did have one, there's no chance it can defeat all my students and myself." _

"_You'd be surprised," Lu Tsung chuckled, and called out to the entrance. "It's time now my dear. Show them what you can do!"_

_With those words a young nine-year old Meilin entered the dojo. She wore a faded green tunic with brown pants filled with holes. Her hair was cut short, making it possible to mistake her for a boy. She entered the dojo with her head down and walked as if in a trance. The sleeveless tunic reveled countless cuts, bruises and scars, and her ruby-eyes were lifeless and dim. Wong Shu and his students laughed when she stood next to Lu Tsung. _

"_This is your weapon Lu Tsung?" the master laughed. "I can see that you're losing your touch!" Lu Tsung kept the confident smirk on his face before he leaned over and whispered into Meilin's ear. _

"_Get 'em!"_

_Meilin's head snapped up, her eyes bright and aware. The little girl dashed towards the aged master, and jumped to reach his chest. Before Wong Shu knew it a powerful kick slammed into his chest, sending him flying back into the far wall that was 30 feet away. _

_The moment she landed, she dashed towards the throng of students who were taken aback by the child's speed. Meilin jumped and launched a fierce double kick into two students that made them collide with the charging students. A punch came at her flank, but the little girl ducked and slammed a kick into the man's knee. A loud _crack, _told her it was broken. _

_Suddenly she was caught in a tight bear hold. Without even struggling, Meilin bit the man's arm, drawing blood, and forcing him to release her. Her feet touched the straw floor, and were quickly launched into a side kick into the man's stomach. Five more came at her, Meilin charged straight for them. _

_The little girl jumped, and tackled the middle man to the ground. Punches rained down on his face and body. The four remaining students rushed to his aid. Meilin somersaulted off the man, and pushed off with her back leg into a fast flying sidekick that one student couldn't dodge. He collided with the far wall joining his master. Punches collided with her small torso and head, but the blows didn't seem to register as Meilin small hands lashed out grabbing two arms, stopping the assault. The uncapture student lunged forward, a punch already cocked back to fire. The little girl jumped and slammed her legs into her captors' chests, sending them flying into opposite walls, and landed in time to duck underneath the third student's punch. The moment the student eyes widened, five fast punches ran into his stomach, forcing him forward. His life ended the moment Meilin's small foot collided with his throat. _

"_Die you brat!!!!!" Meilin whirled around in time to see a sword slashing through the air aimed straight for her throat. The weapon passed harmlessly over her as she bent her upper body backwards. The sword wielder, Wong Shu, stumbled to regain balance, but he only succeeded in giving Meilin an opening. Meilin's left leg instantly shot up, kicking the sword out of the master's hand, and in one motion whirled into a sidekick to chest, sending him crashing through the wall of the dojo. _

"_Good girl!" Lu Tsung exclaimed, surveying the damage. Wong Shu and his pupils, one of the most revered and respected participants in martial arts in the county, laid unconscious, severely injured, or dead. All at the hands of a nine-year old girl. A smug smile crossed his lips as he took a long breath from his cigar. The possibilities were endless. _

"_Alright Meilin, time for bed." With those words, Meilin's eyelids dropped halfway, her shoulders hunched, her body stiffened. Her eyes once again were distant, her movements were as though she was in a trance. Lu Tsung let out a triumphant laugh, and exited the ruined dojo, with his little weapon in tow. _

_End Flashback_

"Hey kid...." a gruff voice urged. The voice repeated itself, along with several nudges to her body. Meilin slowly opened her eyes with a groan. After rubbing her eyes to clear her vision, Meilin saw Dao Wang standing over her, his metal hammer slung across his shoulders.

"W-what the hell are you doing here...." she muttered getting to her feet. "My uncle not trust me enough to get this done."

"No," Dao Wang replied in his deep gruff voice. "Think of me and the others as.....guards."

"Guards....?" she repeated not getting his meaning.

"Yeah. In case someone comes looking for you."

Meilin's stomach jumped at Dao Wang's words, and forced herself to look away. Would the others really come to look for her? No of course not. Li would come, no doubt. But he would be more likely to come for the necklace and kill her than to talk. The thought of his amber eyes barring into her body with an unbuffered intent to kill, made her body quiver. She had to avoid that no matter what.

"Do what you want," she replied finally. "I'm going to see this through no matter what!"

"I'm sure you will," Dao Wang, and turned to face bushes before him.

Meilin allowed herself one last glance at the bushes behind her, before sprinting off into the darkness of the forest.

OOOOO

Lu Tsung. Lu Tsung. Lu Tsung! Saying the man's name multiple times was like allowing venom into Li's body. He felt his mouth grow bitter, and thought that his tounge needed to washed after saying that bastard's name so many times at once. But he couldn't help it.

He had only met Lu Tsung only two times in his boyhood, and thought that was more than enough for a lifetime. The man was slime plain and simple. Even his mother, who often disagreed with him on countless, would agree with that statement. If he remembered correctly, his mother felt the need to wash herself after a meeting with Lu Tsung. The fact that the man was related to her only made her disgust worse. His mannerisms, attitude, habits, even the way he dressed, was in his mother's eyes a disgrace and insult to the family. His very existence was thought as an insult to some. But despite all that, Lu Tsung remained in the family for a single reason, and that single reason had always been more than enough for Li's family. He wielded great power. And that was what Li feared the most.

"Are you scared?" a sly voice said from behind him. Far too used his friend's habits, Li didn't even bat an eyelash at Eriol's sudden appearance.

"No," he said firmly despite himself.

"Are you sure....? You can tell me you know," Eriol replied, with his ever-preasent sly grin on his face.

"No, I'm not scared of that dirty bastard at all....!"

"I know I am," the doctor admitted, his smile dropping. "He is a dangerous foe."

"No shit."

"Do you really think Meilin-chan would give the jewel to him?"

"Hard to say. She always has been erratic, but if there is one person in this entire world that could make her do this, it would be him."

"You don't think...." Eriol started, his mouth pursed together. "You don't think he still has influence over her do you?"

"I'm praying to all the gods that he doesn't," Li replied, worry written all over his face. "Because if he does, a _very_ different Meilin is waiting for us at the end of this road."

"Li! Eriol-kun wait up!" Sakura's voice broke the two boys out of their conversation.

"What the hell are you three doing here!" Li snapped.

"We're going to help you save Meilin-chan...." Sakura said, taken aback. "What's wrong?"

"Go back now!!" Li shouted. "Wait for us at camp!"

"Lighten up kid," Keroberous said. "It's not like we haven't followed you guys into danger before."

"I would think you would be used to this by now," Tomoyo said.

"This isn't like before!" Li exclaimed. "If you value your lives at all, go back now! This guy is stronger than you know!"

"Meilin-chan is our friend Li!" Sakura shot back. "We have to help her no matter what!"

Li opened his mouth to reply, but Eriol beat him to it.

"Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan, Keroberous, please understand. All three of you have made considerable progress, but this new enemy is beyond your current abilities. Please turn back."

"I-I can't Eriol-kun..." Sakura muttered. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I didn't help a friend whose in trouble!"

"You be helping anyone if your dead!" Li snapped. "Now get the hell out of here!"

"Too late..." a gruff voice announced suddenly. A white blast shot towards the group from the bushes, making them scatter to dodge. When they reformed, a tall well built man stood before them. His bald head reflecting the morning rays, and a large metal hammer slung across his shoulders ready for use.

"I knew someone would be coming for dear Meilin, but I didn't expect an entire squadron. That jewel must be something else then," the muscular man said, looking over the group.

Li growled as he drew his sword.

"I don't have time to play with you today! Get the hell out of my way or die!"

"I was about to say the same to you," Dao Wang said. "Although this shouldn't be too hard. A few brats and their stupid mascot. Keh, I won't even have to use a quarter of my power to defeat all of you, espiecally that dead weight you call a guardian beast."

"What did you say to me!!!!" Kero growled. Dao Wang smirked.

"What's the matter did I hit too close to home?"

"I'll show you whose a mascot....!"

"Kero-chan calm down," Eriol whispered. "He's trying to work you into attacking him."

"Apparently it's working," Tomoyo chided.

"Don't hog all the fun Dao Wang," a younger sounding voice said from the trees. "I want my fun too!"

"Yes Dao Wang, don't be so greedy," a nasally voice said.

"All of you remember our primary mission though," a mature voice reminded them.

"Great, more playmates," Li spat. With those words, Gao Ming, Zhe Ren, and Qin Lei jumped out from the trees, and surrounded the group in a tight ring in the forest clearing.

"Not exactly the friendliest looking bunch," Eriol commented.

"This won't be easy," Kero said.

"It doesn't matter whose in our way, we have to get to Meilin!" Sakura declared.

Neither members of the opposing groups refused to move. Their movements locked by the tension and hesitance to attack. A small step forward from Dao Wang caught Li's attention. Zhe Ren fingered the pouches on her belt, and Qin Lei began to draw her sword.

A single leaf dropped from a tree, and that was all that the groups needed. Dao Wang dashed forward, his hammer raised over his head ready to strike. A green mist from Zhe Ren painted the air, while Qin Lei thrust forward with her sword. A blast of fire errupted from Kero, collidied with the mist causing a loud and fast explosion to rock the clearing. Black smoke consumed the area, and Li dashed into the woods, with only one goal in mind......Meilin.

OOOOO

Li dashed through the forest, almost regretting leaving the others to handle Lu Tsung's officers, but reassured himself. He knew the others could handle them, Meilin on the other had, was someone he had to face alone. He was a good half distance away from the battle royale when a long metal blade shot out from the bushes. Instinctivly Li slashed at the odd projectile, knocking it back, and readied himself for whatever opponent awaited him.

"Ah....Li....." Jin Shu said as he approached the swordsman. "It's been a while hasn't it." Li spat at the half-demon's feet.

"Look I'm in a hurry here. So why don't we skip the pleasantries, and get to the part where I kick your ass!" Jin Shu smirked underneath his hood, and shifted into a stance.

"My thoughts exactly." With those words, the two warriors leapt and collied in mid-air.

CLANG!!!!!!!

AN: (Nervous Laughter) I plead no other excuse other than laziness. And the fact that my original work has been quite litterally sapping away all my creative juices. This chapter comes from complete writer's block for that work. It actually felt really nice writing for this fic again. And since next chapter is a fight-filled chapter, expect it a lot sooner. (Hopefully. No promises though. But I will really try.) It's been a while since I've written fights (I'm not at that point in the original story yet.) So I'm gonna have to get back into it. Hopefully the result will be a very exciting chapter. I really hope you found this chapter exciting, I kinda rushed the ending, and there should have been much more description when the two groups were staring each other down, but I really wanted to get it done. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Here's a preview for the next one. See ya there! (Hopefully it won't take months...-_-)

_Sakura: Stand aside! I'm going to help Meilin-chan no matter what! _

_Tomoyo: Please be careful Sakura-chan, these fighters are not at all like the enemies we have faced so far at all. _

_Kero: And if you think we're having a hard time, imagine how hard Li's having it with this Jin Shu guy! He's pulling powers and abilites out of his ass that I didn't think were possible! Is this guy really related to the brat? _

_Sakura: So please join us next time for "Collision: The Day Long Battle to the Death Part I!" Eriol-kun, what exactly happened between Meilin-chan and this Lu Tsung person? _


	74. The Day Long Battle to the Death part 1

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 74

A thrust whizzed past Sakura's ear, as her opponent, Qin Lei continued their fight. Sakura quickly parried the sword with her staff, and swung at swordswoman, releasing a blast of wind. Qin Lei flipped over the young girl, avoiding the wind with ease, and thrust at Sakura's neck. Sakura dove forward, tucking her chin into her chest as she went, and rolled to her feet.

Sakura gritted her teeth as she looked over her opponent. She wasn't quite sure how she got into this fight in the first place. After the explosion, she had run into the brush to escape, assuming the others were with her. But it didn't take long for her to realize she was alone. When she tried to go back, this woman attacked her.

At first Sakura had thought this was going to be an easy fight. The sword the woman used as her weapon seemed too thin and flimsy to do any major damage to her. And that looked to be her only weapon. But Sakura had soon realized that it was because of that sword that this fight was going to be difficult. It may have looked meek compared to the other swords she had encountered so far, but it was fast. In one of their passes, Sakura had lost sight of the sword completely, and thus received four cuts on her arms.

The cuts were shallow, one of the few advantages Sakura had on her side. The sword was so slender; it seemed to be made for stabbing rather than slashing. She would be all right if she could catch her opponent the moment she moved in to stab.

But then there was the bird that was watching them. Sakura wasn't sure why, but that bird was making her hair stand on end. And she had learned a while ago, that was never a good sign. That bird, with its large ruby eyes had been watching the entire fight so far. Taking in every movement and attack they both made. But what for? Was the bird a part of some special attack?

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts when Qin Lei dashed forward, her sword positioned for a stab. Seeing her chance to execute her plan, Sakura leapt forward with a yell.

The stab shot straight for her heart. Knowing this was coming; Sakura already had her staff her ready. She easily knocked the sword off its path with the body of her staff, and swung the head towards Qin Lei, eager to end the fight. The attack was inches away from connecting when Qin Lei suddenly vanished.

"Hoe!!?!" she exclaimed.

"I'm right here!"

Sakura whirled around in time to have her opponent stab straight through her right shoulder. The young girl cried out as pain shot up and down her arm. She took several steps back only to be knocked to the ground by a swift kick across her face. The moment she hit the ground, Qin Lei's sword followed her. Sakura rolled to the side, avoiding another stab, and managed to blow Qin Lei back three feet with her wind.

"Not bad," her opponent said with a smirk. "But not all that good either."

Sakura picked herself up, and clutched the new wound to her shoulder. This was going to be much harder than she first thought.

OOOOOOO

Tomoyo dove to the ground, just barely avoiding four needles. Five more needles came at her face, forcing her into another dive.

"Ha, you call yourself a fighter?" her opponent Zhe Ren scoffed. The ninja girl threw another five needles, making Tomoyo dive to the ground yet again. "I can do this all day and barely waste any of my strength."

Zhe Ren was about to throw four more needles, when two kunai shot straight for her face. The ninja girl jerked her head to the right avoiding the attack, but was caught off guard yet again. Two threads suddenly wrapped around her legs, and with a single tug, she was flat on her back.

Seeing her chance, Tomoyo hurled three more kunai at her stunned foe. Zhe Ren quickly got to her feet in time to flip over the opposing projectiles, and counter with her own. The two weapons collided in mid-air with a CLANG, and fell harmlessly to the ground.

"So," the ninja girl said. "I see you have moves of your own after all."

"Unfortunately for you," Tomoyo said with a pleasant smile. "I am just getting warmed up."

"Doubt that," Zhe Ren scoffed. "I've always been more than a match for Meilin. What makes you think a little girl like you can beat me?"

"How can someone like you be a match for Meilin-chan?" Tomoyo asked, ignoring Zhe Ren's question, even though secretly she was asking herself the same. She had no idea what Zhe Ren's abilities or powers were. They could be anything.

And the idea of Zhe Ren being a match for Meilin didn't help her spirits either. Tomoyo had witnessed enough of Meilin's fights to know that she was strong. Almost inhumanly so. Meilin could beat anyone, and for this Zhe Ren to claim that she was a match for Meilin, didn't bode well for her.

If Zhe Ren wasn't bluffing, and she began fighting in earnest, Tomoyo could see herself losing, very quickly. Her heart raced at the thought. She bit her lip to prevent herself from letting out a whimper. She had to be smart. She had to stall the ninja girl long enough to prepare for a counter attack in case her opponent did begin to fight in earnest.

But all she had to go on were the needles Zhe Ren threw. And Tomoyo had witnessed enough fights on the part of Li and others to know that it was very unlikely for the needles to be full extent of her ability. She could continue to fight and hope to take down Zhe Ren before she could use whatever special attack she had. But once again, Tomoyo had seen enough to know that foes like these were much more likely to use their abilities when pushed into a corner.

Tomoyo doubted she would be able to survive the first showing of Zhe Ren's power. In her other fights, she at least had some warning before hand. She had seen Mindfreak mentally torture her friends, and Brouji's ability was extremely easy to figure out based on his size. Zhe Ren was a completely mystery.

She could only hope that Zhe Ren would take her bait.

"I've seen Meilin fight," she continued, her heart racing. "She's one of the strongest people I know. How can someone like you be a match for her?"

"Bah!" the ninja girl scoffed. "Fighting prowess comes from more than just raw power!"

'So her ablitiy isn't based on physical strength,' Tomoyo noted. But that still left almost an infinite amount of possibilities.

"Regardless," Zhe Ren barked. "I won't even need a quarter of my power to defeat a little girl like you!" With that Zhe Ren hurled three more needles at Tomoyo, who quickly jumped to the side, and threw three kunai.

The ninja girl knocked away the incoming projectiles with little effort, and dashed towards her young foe. Before Tomoyo could react, Zhe Ren landed a solid jab to her stomach, and knocked her to the ground with a swift round kick.

When Tomoyo's vision stopped spinning she saw Zhe Ren leap towards her with a yell. The raven-haired girl rolled to the side in time to avoid getting stomped into the ground. Zhe Ren whirled around to continue her assault only to have a thread wrap around her hands, tying them tightly together.

"Is this the best you can do!" the ninja girl laughed. But her laugh was cut short when two kunai shot towards her forehead. Zhe Ren quickly leapt into the air, easily avoiding the projectiles. But a single strong tug from Tomoyo brought the girl plunging back to the ground.

Zhe Ren struggled against her bonds, only the find that they were slowly cutting into her wrists. The ground became closer, and the second she realized it, was the second Tomoyo hurled two kunai straight towards her falling figure.

A smile crossed Tomoyo's face when she saw Zhe Ren predicament. It's much harder to dodge in mid-air than on the ground, and the thread tied around her hands insured that the ninja girl could not knock away her kunai. This fight was over. Or so she thought.

Gritting her teeth at her situation, Zhe Ren decided she had no other choice. She took a deep breath and fired a blast of green smoke from her mouth. The two kunai froze in the smoke, and quickly melted into nothing but silver ooze. The smoke drifted down to the thread, and the thread met the same fate.

Tomoyo smile instantly dropped when Zhe Ren landed before her, a smug smirk on her face.

"I guess I may have to take this seriously after all."

Tomoyo couldn't help flinch as Zhe Ren reached for one of the pouches on her belt. She had wanted to avoid this at all costs.

Zhe Ren took a handful of black powder from her pouch and popped it into her mouth. Not willing to risk the powder taking affect, Tomoyo hurled two kunai at her opponent.

Zhe Ren smirked at the incoming projectiles and blew out a green smoke that melted the kunai into metal ooze. Tomoyo's eyes widened when she realized the smoke was drifting towards her. She quickly jumped out its path, only to be impaled in the leg by two needles.

A cry of pain escaped her lips when she felt her leg go up in flames. Tomoyo frantically looked down, only to find that her leg was still intact, but the unbearable burning continued. Zhe Ren let out a smug laugh she watched Tomoyo's predicament.

"I hope you're enjoying my burning powder."

"What?" Tomoyo muttered through gritted teeth.

"That burning sensation you're feeling right now, is my Burning Poison Powder. The blood inside your leg is literally being burned from the inside out!"

As if on cue, the burning feeling spiked to the point where Tomoyo couldn't take anymore. A loud agonizing scream filled the clearing as she collapsed to the ground. Her mind was a haze of pain and terror. She could barely hear Zhe Ren laughing at her.

"And that's only one of seven!" the ninja girl laughed. "The next six are where the real fun starts!"

OOOOOO

Eriol pushed up his glasses, and twirled his staff as he looked over his opponent, Gao Ming. The two bespectacled fighters stood on opposite facing branches within the forest canopy.

Out of all of Lu Tsung's enforcers, Gao Ming seemed to be the weakest. Eriol had analyzed the fighter's aura when their two groups first met. Unlike his comrades, whose auras were fierce, wild, and imposing, his was mild, calm, and rather meek. To most people it would have looked like a total mismatch.

But Eriol wasn't most people.

The doctor had learned long ago that a meek aura didn't always equal a meek fighter. If his weak aura was apparent to Eriol, no doubt it would be apparent to Gao Ming. And for him to stay with such imposing, and powerful comrades, he had to have some sort of valuable special ability. Problem was, Eriol couldn't see or sense anything unusual about the pale skinned fighter.

His body was thin and lanky, with almost no indication of muscle. His black suit no doubt limited his movements to some degree, and his only weapon was a straight sword at his hip. No matter how Eriol looked at him, he looked more like an advisor to Lu Tsung. Or at most an accountant judging from the abacus in his hands, which he had been doing calculations on for the past four minutes.

Eriol wasn't sure why, but something told him that this one was dangerous. He just had to figure out how and why.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to step aside, and let me pass would you?" he asked with a bright smile.

"No," Gao Ming said simply without looking up from his abacus.

"I thought not." "Could you at least tell me what you're calculating over there?"

"My chances of winning this battle." Gao Ming stated.

"Oh," the doctor said, genuinely interested. "What do they look like?"

"According to my calculations I have a 75% chance of winning this battle. And my calculations are never wrong."

Eriol merely laughed at the new information, and twirled his staff into a fighting stance.

"So I have a 35% chance of winning. Not great odds, but what can I say, I'm a gambler."

Gao Ming smirked as he drew his sword and made one final calculation.

"That attitude just increased my chances by 5%."

"Like I said," Eriol replied, his smile still in place. "I'm a gambler."

With that, Eriol teleported off his tree branch. Gao Ming, just laughed at the doctor's first move, whirled around and thrust out his sword at the air. The moment Eriol reappeared, the sword was in the dead center of his chest.

The doctor's eyes widened at the sudden pain. Blood oozed out from between his teeth, while his breath was caught in his throat. His shocked eyes drifted at his opponent, who sank the sword deeper into his body.

"You lose." He said simply, and kicked Eriol off the branch, and to the forest ground below. "Too easy."

OOOOOO

Keroberos snapped his jaws at his opponent Dao Wang. The muscular man easily dodged the attack and swung his metal hammer at the beast. Kero quickly flew into the air, avoiding the weapon, and released a blast of fire. The blast collided with the muscular man, making Kero smirk in victory.

"Who's the mascot now you bastard!" the beast yelled at the smoke.

"You of course." Before Kero could even blink, Dao Wang burst out from the ground in front of him. The muscular man was all but unharmed. No burns, no cuts, only a few smudges from entering the ground. The hammer wielder twirled his weapon as he approached, making Kero take a step back.

"Did you honestly believe your little fire attack could harm me?"

"Alright then, try this!" With that Kero released a long stream of fire. Dao Wang slammed his hammer into the earth, sending a blast of dirt and rock that smothered and canceled out Kero's attack. When the two attacks cleared, Dao Wang rushed towards Keroberos, and swung his hammer.

Kero quickly flew up again, only to be cut short when a slab of earth exploded out of the ground and slammed into the beast's stomach. The moment Kero doubled over, Dao Wang leapt at the beast, finishing his attack with his hammer to Kero's face. After crashing through five trees, and sliding four feet across the ground, Keroberos finally halted.

"Like I said," Dao Wang scoffed. "Mascot." The muscular man turned towards the brush, content to leave Kero in his threshold of pain, only to be stopped by a blast of fire to his back. The hammer wielder barely flinched at the sudden attack.

"Get….back….here…bastard…." the beast growled, struggling to get to his feet. "I'm…not…finished with….you yet…!"

"Very well," Dao Wang said, turning back. "If you want more punishment, I'll gladly oblige." With that their fight continued.

OOOOOO

"Come now Syaoran," Jin Shu chuckled, dodging a slash from Li. "Surely you can do better than this."

"Just stand still and I'll show you how good I am!" Li barked, and thrust at Jin Shu's throat.

"Very well." Li's sword finally connected with Jin Shu, only for the blade to bounce off the latter's throat. Li stumbled back, leaving himself open to a knee to his stomach. Before he could recover, Jin Shu grabbed him by the throat, and hurled him through three trees.

"Damn…you!" Li growled.

"Face it Syaoran, you can't beat me," Jin Shu scoffed. "And if you can't even hurt me, you and your little friends don't have a ghost of a chance against Lu Tsung."

"Shut up! I don't give a damn about you or that bastard!"

Lu Tsung chuckled again.

"Of course, you just want Meilin back don't you."

Li merely looked away, and got to his feet. Lu Tsung let out a confident laugh.

"You are a fool Syaoran! Would you really risk so much for her? You don't know the first thing about her."

"I know her better than any of you bastards," Li spat.

"Is that so? Did you know she would betray you? Take one of the jewels you've worked so hard to find, leave one of your new friends for dead? Face it Syaoran, the Meilin you know is merely a façade!"

"I said shut up! Element Lightning!" Jin Shu leapt to avoid the lightning, only to have Li release another blast. The assassin twisted his body around the lightning and thrust out his hand toward Li.

A metal blade shot towards the swordsman, who parried the unusual attack. But the blade merely slithered around Li's sword and thrust itself through Li's right shoulder. As Li let out a cry of pain, another blade penetrated his left shoulder, pinning him to a tree.

"You know nothing about Meilin, Syaoran," Jin Shu taunted, pushing the blades deeper into Li. "Give up. She's ours now. She always has been."

"Bullshit…." Li groaned. "You don't know the first thing about her..!"

"Really? Then by all means, tell me about my own sister." Jin Shu pulled on the blades, sending Li flying straight into the assassin's fist. As Li flew back, Jin Shu's blades stabbed into his body, pulling him back into a barrage of punches.

"Mei…Lin…." Was all Li managed to mutter before darkness overtook him.

_Flashback_

"_Master Syaoran," an aged voice called. "Master Syaoran, please come here, I have a surprise for you." A boy around the age of ten entered the courtyard of the modest mansion, and ran to meet his mentor. _

"_What is it Wei?" the young Syaoran asked. _

"_I have a new friend for you to meet," he said, and stepped aside to reveal a small girl. Her simple green tunic was tattered, torn, and smudges in countless places. Her brown pants almost non-existent, and her hands were covered in cuts and bruises. But what was most striking to Syaoran were her lifeless, dim eyes. He tried to get a better look at her, but the odd girl seemed only interested in the floor. _

"_Who is she Wei?" he asked. Wei smiled and gently pushed the girl closer to him. _

"_She's your cousin, Meilin," Wei introduced. "She'll be living with us as of today. Please be nice to her." _

"_I'm Syaoran," he said, extending his hand. "I hope we can be friends." _

"_Lady Meilin, it is polite to return someone's greeting with your own," Wei instructed when Meilin remained still. The little girl's head snapped up, and before Syaoran knew it, he was on the receiving end of a punch. As Syaoran slid across the floor, Meilin dashed towards him, ready to continue her assault. _

"_Lady Meilin, stop!" Wei quickly placed himself between the enraged girl and Syaoran. A punch flew in his direction, but the old man easily dodged the attack, and placed his hand on Meilin's shoulder. The girl's rage seemed to instantly disappear, and her eyes became as blank as before. _

"_Are you alright Syaoran?" he asked. _

"_Wh-what's wrong with her?" the boy wondered, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. _

_Wei let out a disappointed sigh, and pulled out a napkin for the blood. _

"_She has been through a lot I'm afraid," he began. "I'm not even sure where to begin. But Syaoran, it is up to us to help her, to protect her. Do you understand? We are all that she has right now." _

"_I…guess…so," Syaoran muttered. _

"_I'm sure you'll understand someday." _

_End Flashback_

Li awoke, with his back against a tree, and his face and body covered in bruises and cuts. With a determined growl, he grabbed his sword, and slowly got to his feet. His vision cleared enough for him to see Jin Shu walking away from him.

"Hey!" Li yelled, getting to a fighting stance. "Get your ass back here Jin Shu! I'm not finished with you yet!"

"Stubborn, aren't you," Jin Shu said, turning around. "Very well, I could use more fun." The white clad assassin flicked his wrists, making two sword blades spring out from his palms.

Li merely growled and hurled himself towards Jin Shu with yell.

OOOOO

Lu Tsung took a deep and long breath of his cigar. Everything was going exactly as he planned. Meilin had always been a simple girl, with simple tastes. It was all too easy for him to get her to come back to him. And when she returned he would have a surprise for her. Something to ensure she would never leave his side again. A scowl crossed his face as remembered when his niece first left him.

_Flashback_

_Lu Tsung sat at long conference table with four other men. A wide assortment of coins and paper were scattered on the table. Lu Tsung just smiled as he divided the coins into a large pile for himself. _

"_Good job boys," he said to them. "Especially you little Meilin." Meilin, who sat by his chair, staring at the floor, let out a small grunt. _

"_You did this to your own niece Lu Tsung?"one of the men remarked, watching Meilin. "How? I'd like to try this method on one of my men." _

"_It's like my mother used to tell me, get 'em young enough, and the possibilities are endless," Lu Tsung replied with a smug smirk. _

_At that moment, the door crashed open. Twenty soldiers dressed in green and red armor rushed into room, with one shouting orders. _

"_Lu Tsung!" the captain shouted. "Under orders of the council you are placed under arrest! Come quietly and there will be no bloodshed!" _

_Lu Tsung merely took a breath of his cigar, and glanced at Meilin. _

"_Get 'em!" With those words, Meilin sprang into action. In only a few seconds ten out of the twenty soldiers were on the ground, nursing broken limbs or internal injuries. Lu Tsung laughed as he watched the remaining soldiers cower in the presence of a little girl. _

"_This girl is…!" the captain muttered to himself. "Lu Tsung! What have you done to her?" _

"_I merely made her the sharpest sword in the bunch," he replied with a shrug. "Now Meilin, finish them!" _

_At that moment, the backdoor crashed open as well. Thirty more soldiers poured into the room, catching the men off guard. Two of Lu Tsung's comrades were quickly apprehended, while the first wave of soldiers grabbed the rest who tried to flee. _

_Meilin lunged at the captain with a fast punch. The leader caught the little girl's punch, and muttered a few odd words. Meilin let out a cry, and collapsed much to Lu Tsung's horror. _

"_Surrender Lu Tsung," the captain ordered. "It's over!" _

"_Not quite." With a clap of his hands, smoke poured into the room, blinding the soldiers and allowing Lu Tsung to escape. _

"_After him," one of the soldiers yelled. _

"_What do we do with her Captain Wei?" another soldier asked motioning to the unconscious Meilin. _

"_We take her with us," Wei ordered. _

_Flashback End_

A surge of energy caught Lu Tsung attention. Someone had just entered the barrier. The villain dropped down to entryway, and to his pleasure, Meilin emerged.

"Welcome home my dear," he said with a wide smile.

"Shut up," Meilin muttered.

"I assume you have the jewel."

Meilin reached into her pocket, and tossed the necklace to her uncle's outstretched hand.

"Good girl." Lu Tsung's fingers ran along the small piece of jewelry, a look of pure gratification of his face. "Now there's just one more thing you need to do for me."

"That wasn't part of the deal!" Meilin exclaimed. "You said all I needed to do was get the jewel from Kinomoto-san, and you'd help me get favor with my father!"

"Yes, and you've done well, for a hired grunt. You expect me to speak in favor of you to your father when all you've done is something any hired grunt can do?"

Meilin gritted her teeth, and glared at her uncle.

"What do you want me do?" she muttered, her bangs covering her eyes.

"Kill Syaoran."

AN: What can I say at this point that I haven't said before? Other than sorry for the looooong delay of course. But I'm sure my more avid readers are getting used to that part. This chapter gave me a lot trouble for some reason. In fact, all my writing recently is giving me trouble, and I don't know why. I went through so many edits, and rewrites for this single chapter alone. I just was not satisfied with anything I wrote. Even now as I read through this chapter, I'm still not satisfied. And this has extended some of my other writings as well, and it's really putting a damper on things. It's gotten so bad that I'm starting to think the writing quality of this story is suffering because of it. Maybe that's just my own inner critic. (There's no satisfying that guy.) But I'm sure you guys aren't really interested in my whining so let's move on for the next chapter preview shall we?

_Sakura: Next time things start to get intense as our opponents start to show us their true power_

_Tomoyo: And while Syaoran manages to find a way around Jin Shu, a new opponent is waiting in the wings just for him. Will Meilin fulfill Lu Tsung's order to kill him after all? _

_Sakura: You'll just have to catch the chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels:__"__Collision: The Day Long Battle to the Death Part II" See you soon! _


	75. The Day Long Battle to the Death part 2

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 75

"What do you want me do?" Meilin muttered, her bangs covering her eyes.

"Kill, Syaoran."

Meilin flinched. Her face paled, making her visible in the dark while her throat went dry and body shook. The two word phrase echoed in her ears like it was mocking her. Kill Syaoran. Kill Syaoran! Kill Syaoran!! The young girl's hands twisted together trying to block out her uncle's request. But just glancing up at the sleazy man made the phrase echo louder. Meilin clenched her fist and mentally called back her bravado, thankfully it returned full force.

"You can't be serious!" she yelled, making sure her voice echoed. "Kill, Syaoran? Why the hell would I do that?"

"Well it's simple my dear Meilin," Lu Tsung said. "As you know I am businessman, and right now I am in the middle of a very lucrative deal. A deal that your father is very well invested in for that matter."

"Bullshit!" Meilin exclaimed. "You and my father hate each other! The entire family hates you! Why the hell would father do anything with you involved?"

"This deal has mutual benefit. Your father has enough sense to look past personal bias when there's something major to gain."

"And just what is this deal?" Meilin asked, already dreading the answer.

"For obvious reasons I can't say much."

"Why the hell not!"

"It doesn't matter why," Lu Tsung dismissed. "All you need to concern yourself with is killing Syaoran."

"I'll ask you again, why the hell would I do that?"

"Well, we are at a very crucial point in the deal, and you and your little friends are starting to get in our way. The consensus is that we'd all be better off you were all out of the picture. So they've been sending assassins for some time now…"

"Wait a minute! You guys were behind that Mindfreak bastard!" Meilin exclaimed, realization hitting her full force. "And that attack on Daidouji's party!"

"But of course," Lu Tsung chuckled. "And as you and I both know, you and your friends defeated those assassins. So there was a change in tactics. The client couldn't risk losing more men, so they contacted me in order to get one of your brothers to do the job."

"Jin Shu…"

"Exactly. However, I had my own ideas on who should kill Syaoran. So I asked Jin Shu to bring you to me."

"Because you want me to do it," Meilin realized. Sending Jin Shu was just the bait, and taking the necklace from Sakura, was a test of her resolve. And she'd fallen for it. Danced like marionette right into her uncle's hands. Meilin gritted her teeth while she opened and closed her palms in a vain attempt to calm herself.

"Why…" she muttered. "Why did you want me to do that?"

"I miss you my dear niece. You were always my most valued asset. I simply want you back at my side," Lu Tsung replied, his smile and tone almost inviting. But Meilin knew better.

"You actually want me to go back to that life?" she snapped, unable to hold back any longer. "You're nuts!"

"Think about it my dear. Think about the news reaching your father that his defect of a daughter has finally done something of use for him. Do you know how proud he'd be?"

"Shut up! I'm not falling for that again!"

"So…you are going to refuse your dear old uncle? The one who taught you all that you know?"

"You never taught me anything," Meilin spat. "Except how to be a tool, and how to suffer. I'm not walking down that path ever again!"

"I…see…" Lu Tsung said slowly, looking down. The look of hurt and disappointment in his face made Meilin double take. Was he actually hurt that she didn't want to join? Did he actually miss her at his side?

"You put me in a difficult situation Meilin," her uncle muttered, still not looking at her. "I had so hoped you would join in."

"Well too bad," she replied, keeping her resolve. "I'm out of here." Meilin reached the doorway only to be pushed back by a jolt power. Her startled cry was cut short by Lu Tsung sinister laughter overtaking the room. Meilin rushed back to her sleazy uncle, rage apparent in her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" she shouted, grabbing him by his lapels.

"Making sure you never leave my side again," her uncle said simply.

"Bastard! I told you I don't want any part of your damn scheme!"

"Too bad you don't have any say in the matter."

"What do you mean?"

Lu Tsung let out another laugh that sent a shiver down her spine. She may not have any magical abilities, but even she knew that such feeling never meant anything good.

"I mean, you lost any choice you had the moment you walked into my lair the first time!"

"Wh-what are you talking about …?" Meilin muttered, her bravado beginning to fail her. Lu Tsung laughed as he watched his niece's brave front slip.

"I'm not surprised you haven't been able to feel it. Only those with magical abilities could feel the process."

"What process! What the hell have you done to me!"

"I've filled my lair with my energy. That energy is mixed in with the air. So the very moment you breathed in this lair, you've been mine."

"You're not making any sense! What does this energy of yours do?"

"At my command, it will reawaken what is already within you, my dear Meilin."

It was then Lu Tsung's words hit Meilin. Her eyes widened in shock while her arms dropped from her uncle. She had blindly walked right into her uncle's hands, and she couldn't escape. He had her wrapped around his finger.

"No…it can't be…" was all she could mutter. Her uncle let out another laugh as he stepped closer to his bewildered niece.

"All I need to do is say the magic words, and you'll be at my side once again."

"Not if I kick your freakin' throat in first!" Meilin shouted and whirled her body into a fierce sidekick aimed straight for her uncle's throat.

Lu Tsung merely took a breath of his cigar and muttered the phrase.

"Meilin….awaken!"

The dark haired girl's kick froze in mid-air. A pulse ran through her body. Her heart accelerated to the point where it was almost impossible to breathe. She dropped to knees with a soft suffocating cry for air. Another pulse ran through her, much more critical than the last, causing a violent spasm. Her muscles tensed and twisted like knots while her mind felt as though a thousand needles were stabbing her at once. Darkness approached her, and she could not fight against it. One word escaped her lips before she was consumed,

"M-Mother…."

OOOOOO

A cold chill ran down Li's spine as he lunged at Jin Shu. Something bad had just happened. Was it Meilin? Or was it one of the others? However, Li's momentary pause gave Jin Shu the opening he needed to land two slashes across Li's chest. Before the swordsman could counter, the metallic assassin followed up with a knee to his stomach, and sent Li flying back with a fierce kick to his face.

"What's the matter Syaoran?" Jin Shu laughed. "Worried about your little friends? Your focus should be on me and me alone!"

"You asked for it. Element Lightning!"

"Same old trick." Jin Shu easily dodged the lightning attack, and with a flick of his wrist stretched the blades in his palms towards Li. With no time to think of a counterattack, Li leapt over the incoming blades and towards his foe.

"Dodge this!" Li shouted and hurled his sword at the assassin's neck.

"Please," Jin Shu scoffed. "Why bother dodging such a pathetic and desperate move?" With those words, Jin Shu quickly retracted his blades into his palms and easily caught the impromptu projectile. "Is that the best you can do?"

"Hardly," Li replied with a smirk. "On!"

Jin Shu was suddenly blindsided by a blast of lightning from the sword that easily coursed throughout his entire metallic body. Jin Shu's cries of pain echoed through the forest. Within a matter of seconds the assassin collapsed to ground, with sparks of lightning still crackling around him.

"You're….pretty…cleaver…" he muttered to Li. "Placing…a timed…talisman…on your….sword…"

"Your weakness was apparent to me from the start," Li declared as he took his sword from his defeated foe. "The minute I figured out your power was metal; it was a no brainer to figure out that my lightning was your weakness."

"What….?" Jin Shu groaned.

"Metal is a conductor for electricity," Li explained as if talking to a child. "I've trying to hit you with it from the very first time we ran into each other."

"I see….I was wondering….why…you weren't…fighting…me with everything you had….you were….just waiting for me to….get overconfident…."

"Bingo moron," Li confirmed. "Now tell me, where's Meilin? What does Lu Tsung want with her? And more importantly, why is that bastard here in the first place?"

Despite his weakened and defeated state, Jin Shu still managed a confident laugh. It was a haggard and tired laugh, but it was still enough to get under Li's skin.

"What's so damn funny?" he barked.

"D-do you…really…think…you have…time….to ask…such questions….? At this point…I think…Lu Tsung's….plan…is at its…Fruition…"

"What plan? What are you talking about? What does he want Meilin for?"

"I…thought…it'd be…obvious to you….Syaoran….All he wants is…to see his dear niece again…"

Li gritted his teeth as realization struck him. Suddenly it all made sense. He should have seen it from the start!

"What a fool…you've been…Syaoran….!" Jin Shu let out another weak confident laugh, before Syaoran silenced him with another blast of lightning.

With no time to check Jin Shu for signs of life, Li dashed into the brush, trusting his senses would lead him to Meilin. He had to hurry. If his hunch was right, an even tougher opponent laid in wait for him at the end of the path.

OOOOOO

Sakura managed to dodge another thrust, missing her nose by centimeters. The emerald-eyed girl swung at her opponent, only for Qin Lei to vanish again. A yell from above gave Sakura enough warning to flip back, avoiding a sword through her skull.

The moment Qin Lei paused to pull her sword from the ground, was the moment Sakura needed for a counterattack.

"Take this!" With a swing of her a staff a small whirlwind hurled Qin Lei through three trees and bounced her against the ground five times before settling to a stop. As the older woman struggled to recover, Sakura leaped forward, determined to end the fight.

"Lightning Thrust!" With a single thrust eight strings of lightning blasted at the young girl. The blast slammed into Sakura's chest sending her flying back. Even after she hit the ground, her body continued to jolt and twitch from the lightning still coursing through her. Her senses jumbled together, making her world an incomprehensible fusion of colors and sound.

When she tried to move her feet, her arm moved, and when she tried to move her head, her fingers moved. She could only stare at the approaching white and blue figure.

"My Lightning Thrust," the woman said with apparent glee in her eyes. "From your reaction, you seem to be enjoying it."

Sakura tried to retort only to have more sparks zap through her.

"It takes up a good deal of my energy, but you really aren't in any position to fight back right now are you?" Sakura's only reply was a strained movement of her lips. Qin Lei smiled at her opponent's helplessness. "Then I'll just give you some more! Lightning Thrust!"

Sakura's cries filled the forest as the attack coursed through her body. When it passed, Sakura could let out a series of heavy breaths while the remaining sparks flared up around her.

'I....have to....find....a…way....to....block...that,' she thought weakly. 'But....what blocks...lightning....?'

"One more time! Lightning....."

Despite the sparks, Sakura managed to reach into her pocket, and found what she what she needed to counter.

"Thrust!"

"Wood, encompass me!" At that moment the spirit burst from its confinement, and quickly circled around Sakura in time to block the attack. When the light cleared Qin Lei found Sakura enclosed in a cocoon of tree bark.

"What's this?" the woman exclaimed. "You think a little tree bark can protect you little girl? Well let's see. Lightning Thrust!"

The attack collided with the bark, only for the lightning to jolt and jump around the bark before shorting out. Qin Lei growled, but a smirk soon cross her face.

"I certainly can't blast you, but I can still stab you." Qin Lei positioned her sword ready to stab, when Sakura let out a small yelp from the bushes behind her. The older woman quickly whirled around to the bushes, her lighting attack already charged.

"So that was a decoy eh? No problem. I'll just obliterate you from here. Lightning Thrust!"

"Gotcha!" Sakura exclaimed. Qin Lei turned in time to see Sakura burst from the cocoon with a pink ball of wind energy in her palm. "Take this!" The young girl hurled the orb at the older woman, sending her flying back into the woods until Sakura could no longer see her. When she felt it was safe, Sakura took a knee and took a breath of relief.

"Thank goodness for the Voice card," she muttered to herself. Thankfully it didn't take much of her energy to use it to imitate her voice behind Qin Lei.

"But I don't have time to be relieved," Sakura said with a determined breath. "Meilin-chan needs our help." Despite the lingering sparks running through her, Sakura still managed to find the strength to walk deeper into the woods after her friends.

The moment the young girl disappeared into the woods, the ever watchful bird let out a small squawk, and took off towards Qin Lei.

OOOOO

Keroberos roared and lunged at Dao Wang, fangs ready to snap. The hammer fighter easily dodged the direct assault. The metal weapon swung towards the beast's face, but Kero quickly took the air to avoid. A blast of fire shot towards the muscular man, only to be slapped away with ease.

"Is that it mascot?" Dao Wang asked lazily. "How disappointing."

"Damn it…" Kero wheezed. The fight really wasn't going well. It hadn't been going on for a while, but Kero already had three broken ribs, his eye was getting to swollen to the point where it was hard to see, and his stomach was churning and twisting so much he expected to hurl at any moment.

To make matters worse, Kero couldn't find a single weak point in Dao Wang's defense. He was always on guard, with his hammer quickly behind whatever defense he used. No matter what Kero threw at him, he was ready for it. The guardian beast bore his fangs in thought as he stared at his opponent. There had to be a way!

"Break's over mascot!" Before Kero could react, a pillar of stone erupted from the ground, slamming into his face. The beast managed a mid-air flip to regain his balance, only to see Dao Wang spring into the air from another rising pillar of rock.

Kero quickly fired a stream of flame at his approaching opponent. But once again, Dao Wang spun his hammer, dispersing the flames without losing any momentum.

"Stay down this time mascot!" Dao Wang exclaimed as he swung his weapon. Thinking quickly, Kero barrel rolled narrowly avoiding the weapon, and finally revealing an opening on Dao Wang. His back.

"You stay down you worthless bastard!" the beast exclaimed. With that he fired a long stream flame straight into the fighter's back, sending him plummeting to the ground head first. Kero surveyed the damaged as he floated back to the ground with a satisfied smirk.

"Enjoy eating dirt," the beast chuckled.

"I believe that's my line." With that Dao Wang erupted from the ground in front of Kero, blocking his path. The hammer fighter looked worse for wear in Kero's eyes. His bare upper body was covered with smudges, bruises, and small cuts from the fall. And no doubt his back was heavily burned, yet he still remained able to fight.

"Move, your beaten," the beast growled. Dao Wang simply smirked, but dropped his hammer.

"I underestimated you mascot, a mistake I will not repeat."

"Then bring it on."

"With pleasure. I was saving this for Syaoran, but I guess you'll have to do." Dao Wang crossed his arms over his chest, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It only took four more breaths before the hammer wielder began to glow a deep red. Kero could feel his opponent's energy skyrocket. His hairs stood on end, and he knew right away that this wasn't anything good.

With one more breath Dao Wang snapped open his eyes with a fierce yell. At that moment rocks, stones and boulders all shot towards the fighter like an earth magnet, covering him from head to toe. It took only a single yell from Dao Wang for the strange combination to take shape.

Before Kero was now an eight foot tall, hunched over rock-man monstrosity.

"Meet my Golem Form!" Dao Wang announced his voice now deep and distorted. Kero could only think of one thing to say,

"Oh….shit!"

OOOOO

Li dashed through the forest. Jin Shu's words still fresh in his mind. It could only mean one thing. And if it were true then stopping Lu Tsung could prove to be impossible. Li gritted his teeth and increased his speed. He wouldn't let that bastard succeed. Whatever he was planning, Li would stop him, and get Meilin back. Somehow.

His thoughts were interrupted when the young man realized he had arrived at Meilin's location, a large open field clearing with a fast moving river running nearby. The wind brushed the ankle high grass against him, while Li's eyes stared straight at the man in the center of the clearing.

Lu Tsung sat on a ruby red cushioned throne, his cigar in his mouth taking a deep breath. His fingers drummed against the gold arms of the throne while he eyed Li up down analyzing him.

"Well, look who finally made it!" the older man exclaimed. "You've certainly grown Syaoran."

"Where is she?" Li barked, already drawing his sword.

"No even a proper greeting for your dear old uncle?"

"I'll give you one when I see you in hell. Now where is Meilin?" the swordsman growled.

"Tsk tsk. Such impatience, Syaoran. You should at least wait until your little friends get here."

Li's green aura flared as his anger peaked. It was taking everything in his self-control not to run the bastard through at that moment.

"I'll….ask…you…one more…time…." He muttered, his amber eyes flashing crimson red. "Where….is….Meilin…."

"Well if it means that much to you." With a snap of his fingers Meilin stepped out from behind the throne, and in an instant Li's anger vanished.

Meilin stood with her head and shoulders hunched over. Her arms hung like useless sticks in front of her body. Her mouth was moving, but no audible or comprehensible sounds seemed to be coming out of it. And her eyes were empty, distant, and lifeless. Li's anger suddenly seemed like a distant memory compared to the horror and disgust he felt.

"What, what did you do to her?!" he managed to yell. Lu Tsung let out a laugh made Li feel disgusted.

"I merely taught an old dog an old trick."

Li gripped his sword to point where his knuckles became white. Fury returned in his eyes, and he could feel his aura begin flare.

"I'll make you hurt for this…." He muttered, his aura beginning to overtake him. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!!!!!" With that, in a blink of an eye Li dashed toward his wicked uncle, intent on taking his head in one attack. However, Lu Tsung only needed to say one pharse to activate his defense,

"Get 'em!"

AN: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!! And here's my present to all of you. A new chapter finally! A very abridged, watered down, and cut version compared to the one I planned, but a chapter nonetheless. I really wanted to get this out by Christmas morning, so I needed to cut out Eriol and Tomoyo's fight scenes. They were giving me so much trouble and wouldn't be ready in time for my self-imposed deadline. So you guys will just have to wait till next time. (Whenever the hell that is …) I once again thank all you readers for your patience with this fic and this author. Thanks for sticking with me for another year. Hopefully next year I can figure out a proper schedule for all my WIPs. Which hopefully will give way to new projects I have in mind. (A Dragonball/Star Wars crossover with Goku as a Jedi Padawan is one really sticking to me right now). I'm not a very organized person, but I'm willing to at least give it a try so I can give you loyal readers decent updates. But anyways, enough my ramblings. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

_Kero: Next time things just keep getting worse as the battle against Lu Tsung begins. The kid is going to be on his own for a while since we're all tied up at the moment. _

_Eriol: Do your best Syaoran-kun! Hold on a moment, you refuse to fight? Well that complicates things…._

_Sakura: Why is Li refusing to fight all of a sudden? And just what does Lu Tsung hope to gain through all this? You'll just have to tune in next time for: "The Day Long Battle to the Death part 3. See you then! _


	76. The Day Long Battle to the Death part 3

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 76

"Get 'em!"

With that phrase, Meilin attacked. She was on Li before the young man could even think of defending himself. Her knee flew up, slamming into Li's torso immediately halting his attack. The moment Li hunched over, a punch with the impact of a boulder met his face forcing him back. The swordsman managed one quick glance of Meilin's incoming foot before it collided into his gut.

His stomach, for a brief second, seemed to collapse on itself. His upper body jerked forward before blood erupted from his mouth. Another great impact hit his face sending him flying back to the edge of the clearing. Li slammed his hand into the ground, gaining back some balance, and managed to push himself to a flip back to his feet.

The clearing before him became a haze of dark figures. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth while his breath became caught in his throat. His legs wobbled, ready to give way to his weight at any moment.

"Damn," he muttered to himself. "All this damage after only three hits."

Meilin, or the figure Li could only assume was Meilin, inched forward. Li raised his arms to defend himself. But a glance at Lu Tsung's smug face made them drop. He refused to give that bastard the satisfaction.

At that moment, Meilin broke into a full sprint, clearing the distance between them in less than five seconds. Li shook his head to clear his vision. A jab, which he could just barely make out, shot towards him. The swordsman ducked, only to be caught in the path of a front kick to his midsection. Li crossed his arms, blocking the attack, but Meilin easily twisted her body into a roundhouse kick that whipped across Li's face.

Just as before, Li flew across the clearing, into the bushes. The chestnut haired boy bounced on the ground three times before coming to a halt in front of a tree. Darkness clouded his vision. His body refused to move, and it was becoming a chore just to keep his eyes open. He was willing to listen to his body until he heard Lu Tsung's disgusting laughter.

"What's the matter Syaoran? Have you forgotten how to defend yourself?"

"Damn you...." Li growled. Mentally yelling at his body to move, Li managed to get on his feet, using his sword as a crutch to balance himself. Despite his clouded vision he still managed to make out Meilin coming in for another exchange.

"Make him feel it Meilin!" Lu Tsung called. "I don't think you're getting your message across!"

"Meilin don't listen to him!" Li shouted. "I know you're in there somewhere! Don't let this bastard control you!"

But the plea fell on the deaf ears as Meilin broke into another sprint. She leaped into a fierce double kick when she was only a few steps away. Li quickly rolled out of the way and jumped back to escape her range. Meilin landed on her hands, her legs still extended, and pushed off the ground like a springboard. The girl twirled through the air as if she were an acrobat. It only took her a few flips to close the distance, and come down into a flying sidekick.

Li dove forward, narrowly avoiding the attack. But once again, the miss did not stop Meilin. She landed on her front leg, absorbing the weight and force of the fall, before pushing off, and slamming into Li's back with her former back leg.

Li's cry of pain echoed through the forest. He flew back into the clearing and before Lu Tsung feet. The criminal let out another laugh that made Li cringe.

"Is this your plan Syaoran? Refuse to fight, and allow Meilin to beat you to a pulp? Well so far it's very effective!"

"Meilin...." he said weakly. As if on cue, Meilin jumped into the clearing, landing next to the fallen fighter. Her empty eyes looked from Li to Lu Tsung as if not sure what to do.

"Have some more fun my dear Meilin," her uncle ordered. "But save some for his friends. If Syaoran doesn't want to play, maybe they will."

A simple nod was Meilin's response. One light kick was enough to flip Li over to his back. Li managed to open one swollen eye to see Meilin crouch down and begin raining punches all over his body.

After three or four heavy blows, he could no longer feel them. His body became cold and stiff, and the darkness began to take him. Li opened his eye one more time, only for Meilin to punch it back closed.

OOOOO

"Having fun?" Zhe Ren asked as she watched Tomoyo twitch on the ground. The ninja girl laughed as he watched the dark-haired girl's agony. It had only been at least thirty seconds since the poison hit her, but she knew to the girl it must have felt like thirty years. Tomoyo cried and rolled all over the dirt as if trying to put out the invisible fire.

"Here's the antidote," she laughed, holding the vial of clear liquid over her victim. "Come on all you have to do is reach for it."

"Don't mind if I do," Tomoyo said suddenly. With that a thread latched out at Zhe Ren's wrist pulling her down. Before Zhe Ren could fully react, Tomoyo thrust a kunai towards her stomach. The ninja grabbed Tomoyo's arm stopping the attack. Tomoyo pushed harder trying to get through her strength, but to no avail. Zhe Ren pushed down on her kunai arm opening the dark-haired girl up for a swift kick to her stomach, knocking her back.

"What the hell was that!" Zhe Ren shouted. "My burning poison got you! You should still be on the ground in agony!"

"It's true. Your poison did get me," Tomoyo replied with a smile. "But I guess you didn't give me a strong enough dose. A good portion of the pain wore off fifteen seconds ago. Besides you only hit my leg. Poison is designed to attack the vitals in the body. There's nothing vital in my leg. I imagine if you did hit something vital, the pain would have lasted longer."

"So all that time before you were just…!" the ninja girl exclaimed, realization hitting her full force.

"Correct," Tomoyo said cheerfully. "I guess mother's insistence that I take acting lessons has had some benefit. By the way, thank you for showing me where you keep your antidote, I'm sure that will have some benefit too."

"What!"

"I know your type Ms. Zhe Ren," Tomoyo said, her voice dropping. "You like watching people suffer. You get some kind of sick thrill out of it. On this journey with Sakura-chan and the others I've seen too many of your type. That's why I knew if I kept up the act of being in pain, you'd pull out the antidote to make me suffer even more."

Zhe Ren couldn't believe her ears. This amateur, this brat had tricked her! Played her like a puppet to her every whim! Zhe Ren's nostrils flared and she gritted her teeth. She had underestimated this girl. She had to be careful now, very careful.

Tomoyo fought hard to repress a smile on her face. Watching her opponent's face scrunch together anger and frustration had an odd feeling of satisfaction to it. She was beginning to understand why Eriol-kun loved playing games with his opponents and why he loved to torment Li so much. A quick shake of her head regained her focus. She couldn't afford to digress at this point.

'So far so good,' she thought. She knew where the antidote was. Whether it was for all poisons or just the one she couldn't be sure, but it was a start. Tomoyo also noted that Zhe Ren wasn't lying when she said she was a match for Meilin. During their strength match earlier it was obvious Zhe Ren could have easily snapped off her arm. But the ninja girl was so caught off guard she only kicked her.

'I'll have to watch for her strength.' But that wasn't all she had to watch for. Despite her earlier chiding, she had to admit to herself that the Burning Poison was still in full effect. It didn't hurt as much as before, but if she put weight on her leg the pain would return full force. She wasn't sure if Zhe Ren noticed her leg slightly hovering over the ground, hopefully she was too frustrated at being duped by a novice like her. But if she did notice, there was no telling what she would do with such a weakness.

Tomoyo would have to tread carefully. Her leg would slow her down no doubt, but if her earlier observation of Zhe Ren's poison was correct, this fight would be over soon. It all depended on how much she could frustrate the poison mistress. The young girl this time smirked. Watching Eriol-kun would have even more pay off then.

OOOOO

The Golem, Dao Wang, charged at Keroberos. Its large stone fist launched forward into a fast jab. Kero jumped to the right to avoid and attacked with a fireball to Dao Wang's head. The ball collided with its target, earning a confident laugh from Kero. But when the smoke cleared, there wasn't even a singe mark on Dao Wang.

"Did you really think that would work?" the golem scoffed.

"It was worth a try."

"Do you have any other ideas then, mascot?"

"I have a few," the beast replied. Without another word Kero launched forward and snapped his teeth and the golem. Dao Wang evaded easily. Kero dug his front paws into the ground and shot up his hind legs for a double back kick. But the moment his made the contact he regretted it. Despite the new form being stone, it felt as though Kero had tried to kick at solid steel. The attack only resulted in a small annoyed grunt from his opponent.

"Was that it?" Dao Wang asked lazily. Kero responded with a fire stream attack. The moment the smoke rose from the attack, Kero took to the air.

"Damn it," the beast growled. "How the hell do I fight that monster? Nothing works! I should have some advantage up here though."

"Think you can escape me from up there?" Dao Wang yelled when the smoke cleared. "Think again!" The golem raised his arms to the sky towards Kero, taking careful aim.

"What do you think you can do to me from down there?" Kero taunted. But Dao Wang merely smirked.

"This!" With a sharp exhale, Dao Wang's stone arms launched from their sockets and flew straight to Kero like missiles. Kero however wasn't intimidated.

"Ha! Is that all?" A simple barrel roll proved Kero's point. But Dao Wang kept up his smirk.

"Look behind you if you want something more impressive!"

The beast looked over his shoulder. The projectile arms make a complete U-turn motion and shot towards him again. Kero barrel rolled again and the arms whizzed past him without any trouble. But the arms turned once again into another shot. Still not impressed, Kero flew higher into the air to avoid. But at that moment, one of the arms veered completely off its original path and collided into Kero's side.

It was as if a metal rod had been shot into him. A roar of pain escaped his lips before the next arm found him. It veered to the left and nailed the guardian on the left of his head. Stars and a cloud of haze filled Kero's vision, and prevented him from seeing the two arms forming together into a double barrel attack that struck him head on. The impact forced the beast off balance and sent him plummeting to the ground.

Through sheer force of will, Kero managed to regain consciousness in time to frantically flap his wings to slow his landing. The stone arms shot down to stop him, but the beast quickly avoided them and took to the air again. The arms followed him. One veered right and the other left. As Kero rose higher he saw them turn back towards him to get him on both sides. The moment the arms closed in, Kero folded his wings and dropped. The arms collided and instantly shattered.

"HA! Is that all you got?" Kero called. But Dao Wang merely shrugged.

"Just a warm up. Are you ready for the real thing?"

"Hell yeah I am! Bring it on, I don't have all day!"

"Very well mascot." Dao Wang closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. A crack appeared on his rock skin, followed by several more until the golem was covered with cracks. With one final yell Dao Wang exploded into countless small rocks that fell to the ground. Kero raised an eyebrow and floated lower to the ground for a better look.

"That's some attack," he said dryly. "I'm so terrified."

"You should be!" Dao Wang's voice declared. As if on cue, the pile of rocks shot upwards towards Kero. "Golem Swarm!"

As the name suggested the rocks swarmed around Kero like insects. Countless stones cut across his body at every angle and direction possible. The beast tried to fly out of the swarm, but the storm of rocks quickly cut him off and surrounded him again. Desperate, Kero attacked with a fire blast. But the rocks were so small and numerous that the loss of only a few didn't affect the attack at all.

Kero wasn't sure how long the attack lasted, but when it finally did end he had no idea how he was still holding on. His body was covered with cuts as if he had fallen in a sea of glass. The dust from the rocks flying around clouded his vision, and his side and head still ached from the arm attack earlier. Pain rippled through his body. Every breath he took pain accompanied it, a sure sign of a broken rib or two.

Portions of the floating rock pile formed together to re-create Dao Wang's Golem's head.

"Had enough, mascot?" the floating head asked with that same smirk.

A fire ball to the head was Kero's response.

"Very well then. I hope you enjoy yourself, mascot!"

The swarm came again, and Kero's cries of pain filled the sky.

OOOOO

Eriol teleported off his tree branch. Gao Ming, just laughed at the doctor's first move, whirled around and thrust out his sword at the air. The moment Eriol reappeared, the sword was in the dead center of his chest.

The doctor's eyes widened at the sudden pain. Blood oozed out from between his teeth, while his breath was caught in his throat. His shocked eyes drifted at his opponent, who sank the sword deeper into his body.

"You lose." He said simply, and kicked Eriol off the branch, and to the forest ground below. "Too easy."

A loud pop caught Gao Ming's attention. He looked over the branch where Eriol fell, and found no body. Only a log with his sword caught in it.

"What the-!"

"My goodness, have you never heard of the replacement technique?" Eriol said from above. Gao Ming looked up in time to see Eriol's staff slam directly on top of his skull. Gao Ming's unconscious form fell from the forest canopy. A small gesture from Eriol stopped the swordsman in mid-air and allowed him to float to the ground without injury.

"You were right," Eriol said. "That was too easy." The doctor pushed up his glasses and his expression quickly hardened. The energy signals he was sensing from his friends wasn't good. Sakura had made it out of her fight alright, but she was weak. He closed his eyes and his awareness granted him an image of Sakura limping through the forest using her staff as a crutch.

Kero's fight had yet to finish. And the beast was in bad shape from what Eriol could sense. His energy was slowly dropping, while his opponent's skyrocketed. An image of the beast being surrounded by countless rocks and being cut at every angle burned in Eriol's mind. The doctor curled his hands into fists, cursing himself for being too far away to help the beast.

Tomoyo seemed to be doing alright. But there seemed to be some stalemate with her and her opponent. Eriol would have to believe in all them for now, because they weren't in the biggest trouble. At least compared to Li and Meilin.

He had felt it while he had been conversing with Gao Ming. Li had reached Lu Tsung and Meilin. And it all went downhill from there. Meilin had disappeared from his awareness for a while now. Sensing her now was very bittersweet. She was alive, but she wasn't herself. Eriol could feel that the Meilin they knew was still alive, but slowly drifting away, leaving only this mass of aggression, animal instinct, and fury.

Syaoran on the other hand was in the worst shape. His energy was depleting. Meilin was killing him! Eriol pushed his awareness towards Syaoran to get a vision of the current situation. But something was blocking him. The doctor tried to push through the mental wall, but it was too strong. Lu Tsung no doubt. The doctor gritted his teeth and jumped from branch to branch towards Li and Meilin. He couldn't have afforded to play around with Gao Ming. His friends were in trouble and nothing would stop him from getting to them.

Unknown to Eriol a figure had been watching him the entire time. A smile crossed the person's lips as they watch Eriol go.

"They certainly seem to be having a hard time with this one. Perhaps it's time I formally joined the fun."

With that the figure shouldered their weapon, a bow and arrow, and went off in Tomoyo direction.

OOOOO

Tomoyo took a deep breath when she saw Zhe Ren reach for her belt. It had to be another poison. The dark-haired girl inched back. She had to be ready to run at any moment. But her leg would defiantly hold her back. And if she faltered when she ran, Zhe Ren would catch on that the burning powder was still in effect. Tomoyo quickly eyed the clearing for some means of easy escape.

"I underestimated you," Zhe Ren said evenly.

"That happens to me a good amount of time," Tomoyo replied trying to keep her smile. "I'm thinking of turning it into some sort of club. I have the cutest outfits in mind."

"I will not repeat that mistake." The ninja girl pulled out a vial of red liquid. "This is a special mixture. I call it Berserker Red. One sip of it greatly increases strength, stamina, speed, reaction time, virtually anything a fighter needs to win a fight. One sip is enough to give a common soldier enough power to kill thirty men twice his size."

"I appreciate the description," Tomoyo replied, trying to ignore the shiver going down her spine. "That's very kind of you."

"But I added a little extra feature just for me," Zhe Ren continued ignoring Tomoyo. "And it's quite a dozy."

Tomoyo inched her foot back a little more, her fingers wrapped out her bells.

"Oh do tell," she said, hoping her sweat didn't show too much.

"There's no need, you'll get the idea soon enough." With that Zhe Ren uncorked the vial and swallowed the entire liquid in one gulp. A single pulse sounded within Zhe Ren. Her body began to shudder, and Tomoyo saw countless veins surface on her skin. The ninja girl let out a loud cry as the transformation began in earnest with a dark red mist shooting out from her body.

Her hair stood on end while he body grew four times in size. Her skin morphed to a dark crimson red and her teeth grew in length until fangs formed at the corners of her mouth. Muscles took shape all over her body. Her spine extended and contracted until protruded from her back in the form of spikes. Her eyes shifted into a dark gold with silted pupils. Claws grew out from her fingers. One final demonic roar completed the transformation, and Tomoyo allowed her fear to show on her face.

Before her was a seven foot tall, crimson skinned, female monster. Tomoyo could only drop to her knees in fear and realization that she stood no chance against this creature. Sweat poured down her brow and she could feel her body tense to point where it became impossible to move. Her lips trembled into a whimper that was deafened by her loud pounding heart.

"What's the matter girl?" Zhe Ren said her voice no longer close to human. "Scared? Good!" The monster inhaled and fired a jet of purple smoke that shot towards the terrified girl. Tomoyo could only stare as the smoke came towards her. Her body seemed to have lost all will to move. She could only close her eyes and just wait for it to be over.

"Tomoyo-chan!" a familiar voice exclaimed. Warm arms wrapped around her waist and jumped her to safety. Tomoyo looked up to see Sakura looking at her with worried eyes. "Tomoyo-chan are you alright?"

"S-Sakura-chan…." Tomoyo managed.

"A little late for help don't you think?" Zhe Ren shouted, and fired another jet of smoke. Sakura quickly grabbed Tomoyo and leaped deeper into the forest. Sakura looked over her shoulder and saw everything behind them melt into nothing.

"Tomoyo-chan, please answer me!" Sakura shouted shaking her best friend. Tomoyo shook her head, trying to push down her fear. Seeing the face of her best friend somehow made it easier.

"That thing used to be human," she said finally finding her voice. "She took some potion after I tricked her and became that."

"But…how can a potion turn someone into that?" Sakura questioned, glancing at the demon that followed them. "There's nothing that shows she's human anymore."

"I know I-Watch out!" A jet of purple shot them again. Sakura prepared herself to jump, but her body pulsed with pain from her earlier wounds. She could only afford small leap that sent the girls tumbling to the forest floor. Thinking quickly, Sakura shot a blast of wind to the ground to slow their fall.

"Are you alright Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked still feeling the pain of Qin Lei's Lightning Thrust.

"I'm fine, but you're hurt!" Tomoyo exclaimed noticing Sakura's cringing.

"I'm ok…" but a pulse of pain and loud cringe told Tomoyo otherwise. At that moment the bushes melted and the demonic Zhe Ren stood before them.

"I have you now girl!"

Tomoyo threw three kunai at the monster, only to have them bounce off her like they were nothing. The girl's eyes widened as the fear returned full force. Sakura was still injured and her kunai did nothing. There was still one way. Her eyes fell to belt of poisons that remained wrapped around Zhe Ren. It was risky but it was the only option.

"Sakura-chan, can you stand?" she asked quietly.

"I-I can try…" Sakura tried to get to her feet but a pulse of pain brought her back to her knees. "S-sorry Tomoyo-chan."

"No more running girls…" the monster chuckled.

Tomoyo bit her lip. She had noticed earlier that Zhe Ren's poison powder was flammable. When their two group met, Zhe Ren used her powder and Kero fired a fireball at it causing a large explosion that separated them. If she filled two of her kunai with enough energy and aimed at the pouches, they would explode on impact and finish this monster. But with Sakura unable to run or stand, they wouldn't be able to get away. Carrying Sakura was an option, but even with that they wouldn't be able to escape the blast.

Her heart pounded louder and louder until it became all she could hear. Her hands shook and that helpless feeling she longed to be rid of surfaced again. Was this really it? Was this really all her life had amounted to? Dying with her friend at the hand of some monster? Without any resolution with her mother? Without meeting her father at least once?

"Well girl?" Zhe Ren laughed. "Any last words?"

"Back away from them," a voice said sternly.

"What?"

An arrow suddenly whizzed out from the brush landing squarely in Zhe Ren's chest. Before the former human could exhale three more arrows shot out, hitting the same mark. A bright pink light entered Zhe Ren's body making her cry out in pain. The monster's skin began to bubble as it were boiling. Zhe Ren let out one final scream of anguish before she exploded into a flash of pink light.

"I'm sorry I'm late," the voice said from behind them. "Now let's go find Kero-chan."

Tomoyo and Sakura turned around to look at their savoir, but the person was already walking deep into the brush. Without another word, Tomoyo and Sakura followed with thousands of questions running through their minds.

OOOOO

Li wasn't sure how long he had endured Meilin's blows. A minute? An hour? Two hours? All he knew was that awareness didn't return to him until he heard Lu Tsung call off his cousin. Li struggled to open his swollen eyes, but even then it didn't do him much good. The world was nothing but a blur with edges of darkness that was calling him back into unconsciousness.

"…ran..!" he heard.

"Sy….ran…" he heard again. He opened his eyes this time and saw a mess of bluish hair in his vision with worried dark eyes.

"E-E-E…." he struggled, but his mouth refused to work. Eriol signaled for him to shush and held his hands over him. A warm green light engulfed his body, and he could feel his bones and muscles fix themselves. Energy returned to his body, and his vision finally cleared. When the light retracted, Li's eyes snapped open and jumped to his feet.

"What the hell took you so long?" he snapped.

"You're welcome," Eriol said with a smile.

"You're just in time Hiiragizawa!" Lu Tsung said. "Syaoran here was getting really boring. I never thought I'd see the day where he refused to fight back!"

"Is this true?" Eriol asked raising an eyebrow at his friend. A scoff was Li's only response.

"I know this is Meilin and you care about her. But I don't see how letting her pummel you like this helping anyone."

"Stay out of this Eriol," Li said simply.

"What?" the doctor muttered, his voice dropping.

"I said stay out it asshole! I can handle it!"

"How can you ask that of me? I've known Meilin as long as you have! You expect me to just stand here and watch you get pummeled?!"

"That's exactly what you're gonna do!"

"Well I'm sorry but I can't!" Eriol shouted. Li flinched despite himself. Eriol shouting in earnest or showing any anger for that matter, was a rarity even for him.

"You can't fight," Li muttered. "None of you can."

"What are you talking about? If we don't fight how can we save Meilin?"

"I don't know!" Li snapped. "But you just can't fight!"

"Why not!?"

"Because it's part of his plan that's why!" the swordsman yelled. "It's exactly what he wants! He wants us to fight each other!"

"So you figured it out huh?" Lu Tsung said inhaling his cigar.

"What are you talking about Syaoran?"

"Lu Tsung's power is to copy every technique and ability he sees. Magical attacks, energy attacks, even physical attacks. He can copy a fighter's essence with just a look. That's what he wants us to do with Meilin. That's why he got her involved in this. He wants our techniques."

"You mean…" Eriol said, his eyes widening in realization. "This was all a trap?!"

"Yeah," Li confirmed. "He wanted to strengthen himself with our techniques. So he used Jing Shu to bring Meilin to him. Then he preyed on their history together and Meilin insecurities to get her take Sakura's jewel. He knew that when she did that Meilin would feel like she couldn't come back to us so she would come straight to him. And that's when he got her. He used some spell to reawaken what he did to her all those years ago so he could turn her against us, and make us fight. When I heard Sakura mention Meilin's uncle after she got knocked out, I had a feeling this was what he was up to."

"So…that's why you didn't want Sakura, Tomoyo or Kero to go with you," Eriol realized, remembering Li's early apprehension. "And that's why you refuse to fight even now."

"Yeah," Li said walking towards Meilin. "If he gets a hold of any of our techniques he wins. I won't let that happen."

"Bravo Syaoran," Lu Tsung applauded. "Although I'm really not surprised you managed to figure this all out. You always were a bright one."

"Shut up! Just reverse whatever you did to Meilin right now!" "Now why would I do that? The techniques this girl has learned! I really must thank Wei for taking her under his wing. What this girl knows will certainly improve my physical attributes. But you, Hiiragizawa, Keroberos, and those two girls will make me unstoppable!"

"We won't let you do that!" Eriol declared. But Lu Tsung merely laughed. "And what can you do other than let your closest friend beat you to a pulp! Face it boys, no matter what you decide I win! Now Meilin…get 'em!" Meilin charged and the boys made no attempt to defend themselves.

She was inches away when an arrow landed before her feet stopping her. Li and Eriol's eyes widened when they recognized the arrow.

"It can't be…!" Li breathed.

"All the way out here?"

"Syaoran-kun, Eriol-kun, I know Wei taught you two better than this."

The two turned around and saw Sakura, Tomoyo, and a weakened Kero, but the one standing with them left them speechless.

"KAHO MIZUKI!??" they both exclaimed.

"It's good to see the two you again as well," the red haired shrine maiden said with a bright smile. "You as well Lu Tsung."

The evil uncle's face bleached. The cigar in his hands dropped while he gasped for air.

"Y-You!? How is it possible?! How did you get here!?"

"I have my ways," Kaho said simply walking into the clearing. "I see you're in quite the jam Syaoran-kun."

"I-I have it handled," Li said finding his voice despite the stutter.

"Clearly," she replied. She glanced between the emotionless Meilin and the stunned Lu Tsung. "I believe you and your friends should handle Meilin-chan. I will handle Lu Tsung."

"But his technique-!" Li started.

"I'm immune," she said already walking to her self-appointed opponent. "Besides if he's busy with me, he can't copy your techniques. You can fight without worry about that. It's the least I can do. Now run along."

Li and Eriol could only nod at her instructions and backed into the clearing with Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero. Meilin quickly chased after them, leaving Kaho alone with Lu Tsung who managed to snap out of his shock.

"I hear you're some big time shrine maiden!" he laughed finding his bravado again. "Let's put that to the test!"

"Sure, but you probably won't like that result," Kaho smiled.

With those words Kaho fired an arrow and their fight began.

AN: Reveals all around in this chapter huh? Originally Kaho was supposed to come at the end of this arc. But then I realized it just works better that she fights Lu Tsung because it will give me a chance to show a fight on a completely different level. Plus I really wanted the gang to fight Meilin together. Skimped over Kaho saving Kero since well it just seemed to take too long and I really wanted to get to the reveals at the end. So you guys will just have to fill in the blanks on that one, sorry! Oh and also I've started putting status updates on chapters on my profile page so you know I'm not goofing off in between the long break between updates. PM if you have filler chapter suggestions because my well on that one is starting to run dry. Anyways thanks for reading and here's a preview for next chapter!

_Kero: Okay first of all who the hell is that Kaho lady? Why does she make everyone crap their pants? _

_Sakura: Kero save all that for later! Right now we have to save Meilin-chan! _

_Tomoyo: Eriol-kun says he has an idea, but if we do it wrong it might kill her! _

_Sakura: I don't care what we have to do we have to save her! _

_Tomoyo: So join us next time for "The Day Long Battle to the Death part 4! Oh my Mizuki-san is quite the fighter! _


	77. The Day Long Battle to the Death part 4

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 77

Lu Tsung eyed Kaho Mizuki head to toe. She had always been known as a very eccentric and reclusive woman. Her family history, contacts, techniques, and connection with the Li clan were all unknowns. The only thing known about her was her family had some connection with the fabled Clow Reed. Just how deep was impossible to know. Not that any of that had any relevance to the situation at hand.

Just by looking at her Lu Tsung could deduce she was an odd woman. She had her arrow aimed straight at his heart currently. Any movement on his end and she'd loose, scoring a direct hit. Yet no fury or intensity showed in her eyes. Her lips were curled into a slight smile and her muscles were at ease, as if the coming battle was merely training exercise. The amoral uncle grimaced. He did not know the source of her ease. Perhaps it sprang from confidence in her abilities, whatever they were. Or maybe she had some trick up her sleeve that would finish him quickly, allowing her to assist Syaoran and his weakling friends.

Regardless of her confidence, he needed a way around her arrow. Her first shot alone told him that the priestess had deadly aim. For whatever reason she had intentionally missed the first shot. Lu Tsung couldn't count on that kind of luck. It was probably part of some trap, or mental game anyways.

Fifteen paces separated them. A distance Lu Tsung could easily sprint. A great weakness for any archer is the lack of honed close combat skill. All he had to do was close in and overwhelm the priestess with his close combat techniques. But Mizuki wouldn't allow a single step without loosing her arrow. It was possible to attempt to dodge when she fired, but the speed it took to cover those fifteen paces would cut down on his perception. And his twitch muscles would be less likely to respond in time when he reached top speed.

The only option then was to take the arrow. He knew several techniques that would do the trick, but each one cut down on his speed. Mizuki would just dodge whatever punch he threw, re-notch an arrow and aim for his head. He pursed his lips in thought. When an idea came to him he let out a smirk.

But before he began his attack, there was something he needed to know.

"So what brings you out here, Mizuki?" he asked as he took off his rings. "Did Yelan order you to keep an eye on her baby boy?"

"If only that were true," Kaho replied with a hint of regret. "No, my presence here if for my own reasons."

"And what would those be?"

Kaho smiled and adjusted her aim.

"Now you and I both know that such information is always private."

Lu Tsung shrugged while he took of the rings on his left hand as well.

"It was worth a shot. I figured you would need to get some secrets off your chest before you die."

"I thank you for your concern, but it's not necessary. Besides, what makes you so sure that you won't be the one dying in the next few minutes?"

"This, Granite Gauntlets!" Lu Tsung crushed his rings, sending the stone shards flying to his arms. The shards stuck to his skin and quickly grew into armored stone gauntlets. The moment the armor settled, the wicked uncle rushed off his throne towards the priestess.

Kaho immediately fired her arrow, only for the projectile to bounce off Lu Tsung's gauntlets. She reached for another arrow but Lu Tsung was already upon her. The uncle cocked his fist back for a great punch. Mizuki quickly jumped back avoiding the punch and fired two more arrows.

Once again the projectiles broke against the surface of Lu Tsung's armor, giving him the time to charge in for another attack. Mizuki dodged a jab-hook combo, only to come into the path of a fierce backhand that sent her flying into a tree. For a brief moment the forest seemed to shake and stars danced before her eyes. Kaho managed to look up and see a jab coming her way. The priestess rolled out of its path and managed to fire an arrow at Lu Tsung's side. But despite the speed, Lu Tsung slapped it away like a fly.

He rushed in again, slapping away three more as he went. A right cross, then a low jab crashed into her face and stomach, making the priestess double over. Lu Tsung laced his fingers together slammed down on the stunned priestess. Dust flew up at her impact. A satisfied smile crossed his lips when Kaho remained still for a full two minutes.

"Now do you see priestess how useless it is to cross me?"

He poked her body with his toe and she remained still.

"Worthless," he spat.

"Now, now, don't count me out just yet," Mizuki said from the ground.

Lu Tsung raised an eyebrow, and soon his jaw dropped. Kaho came to her feet, none worse for wear. No bruises on her face or cuts. The only sign that she had been on the ground at all, was the dirt on her face.

"What kind of technique is this?" he wondered aloud.

Mizuki smiled and gave him a shrug.

"My kind."

The uncle waved off her response.

"Whatever you use will make no difference in the end." He held up his Granite Gauntlets to his chest. "You can't get past my gauntlets with your puny arrows. And don't to use your purifying power either. I'm human, it won't work!"

"You're right, I'm in the quite the bind," Kaho admitted, but still not losing her smile. "I guess I'll have to use them after all."

Kaho's hand passed over a rectangular pouch on her waist that Lu Tsung had missed on his first look over. He sensed no threat from the pouch. Perhaps it was a smoke bomb of some sort to cover her retreat. That had to be it. She knew she couldn't beat him so she had to run. Like it would be that easy.

Kaho opened the pouch and pulled out three cards with an odd magic circle on the back. Once again Lu Tsung questioned their usefulness. He sensed nothing from them. But still, he crossed his gauntlets over his chest just in case. She picked the center one and threw it up in the air. The card spun in mid air like a top and just floated in front of Mizuki as if waiting for something.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, but it is an emergency," she muttered.

What it meant Lu Tsung had no idea. He pumped more of his energy into his gauntlets ready for anything. But even with that extra precaution, he still wasn't prepared for what came.

"Aim, Lu Tsung!" The card immediately stopped its spinning and froze. A bright blue glow began to engulf it. It was then the wicked uncle sensed the incredible power from the object. He dashed towards Mizuki, wanting to end whatever spell she was casting before it was too late.

"Shoot!" the priestess shouted. With that command, beam of light blasted towards Lu Tsung with blinding speed. The uncle brought up his gauntlets for defense.

"You really think one little beam will stop me?" he said with a laugh.

"Yes I do."

The beam of light slammed into the gauntlets, shattering them in an instant. Lu Tsung reeled back in shock as the shards of his armor crashed to the ground. The beam quickly whirled around and collided with his back, then his legs, stomach, and forehead which knocked him to the ground.

The strange spirit lost no time. It came back around and shot towards him like a bullet. The uncle rolled back to his feet, avoiding the beam. But at the last moment, the beam curved up away from the ground and smashed into his chest. Lu Tsung doubled over at the impact, giving the spirit the chance to curve up and hit his chin, bringing him crashing down again.

"Damn it!" he growled.

The spirit came again. It was a quick bastard but Lu Tsung knew how to slow it down.

"Terra wall!" He slapped his hand to the ground, and a wide stone wall erupted from the earth. But the new barricade did nothing to stop the spirit. It did however; buy Lu Tsung the time he needed. The moment the spirit pierced through his wall, the uncle jumped as high as he could, avoiding another shot.

As he had suspected the wall cut down the spirit's speed. It had been a very small decrease, but enough time for him to manage a way to avoid it. Now he had Mizuki in his sights. He only had a few seconds before the spirit turned around for another attack. He had to act fast.

"Meteor Crash!" Yellow energy flared up around the uncle, covering his body. A quick adjustment and he hurled himself towards the priestess. The spirit from before came at him, but merely bounced off his great energy. Now she had no defense against him. He had her!

But as before, Mizuki didn't seem worried. She merely pulled out another card from her had as if she were playing a game. She held it above her and called out its name.

"Shield!" A pale blue orb of light wrapped around her, forming an energy cocoon that could possibly survive his assault. The uncle gritted his teeth and summoned more of his energy around him. His energy flared up to a level that made the uncle look like a falling star at a distance.

Lu Tsung collided with the orb and felt as if he had just hit a steel wall. The shield's great resistance made the uncle fly back, leaving Mizuki completely unharmed. As he came to his feet, two arrows whizzed towards him. They pierced both his knees, making him crash to the ground before he could jump out of the way.

"Damn it."

"Too slow," Mizuki said simply. She notched another arrow and took aim for his head. The odd shooting spirit circled around her, ready to attack at her command. And the shield spirit still engulfed her.

Lu Tsung let out a chuckle. He couldn't believe how easily the priestess turned the tables on him. He had underestimated her. As of now there was no way to breach her defense, and her offense was effective at all ranges. Her arrows could take long range and mid-range. And the spirit would no doubt instantly attack the minute he got past those two. He was trapped. Or so she thought.

His chuckled turned into full blown laughter as he got to his feet. It had been years since had been pushed into such a corner. It was invigorating, like coming up for air or finally stretching out under used muscles. He would need to use everything at his disposal to defeat this priestess.

"I owe you my gratitude priestess." He pulled out the arrows in his knees and released a quick healing spell.

"Oh? And why is that?" she asked, briefly glancing at the shooting spirit, no doubt preparing it for an attack.

"Not since my fight with Yelan have I been pushed this far. Keh, I almost even forgot what 'this far' even meant."

"No doubt that was quite the battle," Mizuki replied.

"Oh it was. She had me trapped like you do now. But then I did a little trick she wasn't expecting." Lu Tsung threw off his black animal fur and his kimono which hit the ground with a heavy _thump!_

"Weighted clothes," Mizuki deduced quickly from the cracks the clothes had caused. "How much is all of that?"

"Oh about 200 pounds," he shrugged. "But that not all my clothes do. They also do this little trick where they limit my power to only 10%."

Mizuki's smile at last dropped.

"I can copy every technique I see. Have you not wondered how I can keep all that power and not have my body overload itself? The fur and the kimono both have a special seal that works like a dam. They keep the vast majority of my energy locked away from my body. Only small chunks make through to my use. But without it…"

Lu Tsung let out a loud yell that shook the entire forest. Aura of various colors surrounded his body, red, blue, yellow, black, and white, orange, green. The auras faded and shifted as if fighting for dominance. Meanwhile, Lu Tsung's muscles increased to the size of boulders. His hair flew up and became a crimson red. His pupils became silts while his constantly shifting aura reached the canopy of the forest. Fissures slithered through the ground until the earth seemed to give way to Lu Tsung's power.

With one final yell, Lu Tsung's aura obliterated the entire clearing, leaving only one barren crater. When the smoke cleared only Lu Tsung remained standing. Nothing was left of the area. Passersbys would never guess that a part of a forest once stood where Lu Tsung stood. The trees had become mere splinters and the grass and all but vaporized. The powerful uncle looked around for his prey but she was nowhere to be found.

"Ha! She must have been vaporized as well," he figured. Too bad. He had so wished to try out his full power after so long.

An arrow shot down from the sky before he could mentally declare Kaho Mizuki dead. Lu Tsung flared up his aura and the arrow vaporized into nothing before it could even reach him. The uncle looked up and saw Mizuki in the air with two white wings attached her back. So she had summoned some flying spirit to escape him? Just as well, he wasn't confined to ground now anyway.

"You know for a minute there I thought you were dead! Or did the smart thing and ran away."

"Why run from something you're not afraid of?" Mizuki replied, already taking aim again.

"Those little arrows won't do anything to me now priestess! You're helpless against me!"

Mizuki kept her aim.

"Why not come up here and see just how helpless I am?"

"Very well!"

Lu Tsung flared up his aura, a dark green this time, and rocketed into the air after Mizuki. The priestess drew another card. One that she desperately needed for this round.

"Power!" she called. A pink aura surrounded her and the two beings clashed in mid-air.

OOOOO

Li mind raced as he and the others ran through the forest with Meilin on their heels. What was Mizuki doing all the way out here? Did Wei send her? Or was she up to something else entirely? She had always been an odd one, that carefree smile always on her face, and the fact that she always knew more than she let on.

He had first met her when he first met Eriol when he was eight. Kaho had presented Eriol to the clan to be trained in the martial and magical arts, saying he had great potential. Eriol had always been close to her. But she didn't stay with them long. When they turned twelve she left them. Eriol seemed to take it the hardest. She said that something else called her. Whatever that meant. Neither Li, Eriol nor Meilin had heard or seen anything of her since then. He had always wondered what happened to her. And he was sure Eriol felt the same way.

But that wasn't what made him uneasy around her. It was the fact that he could never sense her aura. Li prided himself in his senses, a pride reinforced by Wei. But as far back as he could remember he could never sense her aura. It wasn't even that she was suppressing it. It was as if she just didn't have one. Which was impossible, every living being had an aura or some form of energy.

A loud yell from Meilin snapped Li out of his thoughts. She was closing in. Whatever her reasons for being here, she had given them the chance they need to help Meilin.

"Eriol!" he barked, snapping the doctor out his thoughts as well. "Any ideas on stopping Meilin?"

"Several. But without knowing exactly what Lu Tsung did to her, all my ideas are theories. And there's no real guarantee that they'll work."

"Great," he muttered.

"So what are we going to do Li?" Sakura asked. She and Tomoyo rode on Keroberos. They were both still shaken up and weakened from their fight with Zhe Re and Qin Lei. Keroberos wasn't exactly at a hundred percent either. Eriol could heal them, but there was no way Meilin would give him the time he needed.

"I'll fight her," he announced. "Sakura, the minute you see any opening I want you to use that wood spirit to bind her."

"For how long?" she asked.

"However long it takes for Eriol to finish analyzing her mind for some way to help her," Li replied. "Daidouji use your strings to help Sakura."

"Of course. I'll try not to hurt her."

"What about me kid?" Kero growled in annoyance.

"You're Sakura and Daidouji's cover. If she breaks out of the bind and goes after them you have to hold Meilin off until I get there, or until Sakura can create another bind. You've trained with Meilin so you should be able to withstand her attacks."

"Great so I'm pretty much a big punching bag," the beast groaned.

"Don't complain," Li snapped. "If everything goes to plan you won't even have to take a single punch."

The group arrived at a large clearing with Meilin moments away.

"You all know what to do, now scatter! The element of surprise is key here!" Li said as he unhooked his sword and tossed it to Sakura. "Take of this for me."

"But, but, don't you need it?" Sakura asked, confusion written all over her face. Li never gave up his sword to fight.

"It'll be better this way. Now get in position."

Sakura could only nod. She just had to trust in Li and his abilities. She hopped off of Keroberos and motioned for Tomoyo and the beast to follow her in the brush. She gave Li one last look before jumping into the bushes.

"That's a bold move, giving your weapon to Sakura-chan," Eriol said with a smile. Li merely gave his friend an impatient look.

"Not now."

Eriol nodded and dropped his smile. His face hardened as he picked up Meilin's presence. Li signaled for Eriol to go the moment he saw the bushes move. The minute Eriol jumped out of sight, Meilin came running through.

"Meilin!" he called. There had to be a way to reach her spirit. "Listen to me, you can fight this! I know you can. Don't let your uncle control you again!"

The girl glanced around the bush, ignoring Li completely.

"It's just me Meilin," Li confirmed, dropping into a stance. "Come on, do your worst!"

That was all the brainwashed girl needed.

She dashed towards her prey, her fist already cocked back, but Li was ready. He swatted away her two opening jabs and ducked under the follow-up roundhouse kick. The swordsman threw out his leg into a successful sweep. The moment she hit the ground, Li jumped to his feet and threw a fast left jab.

The ruby-eyed girl rolled to the right and slammed a kick into Li's exposed stomach. The wind flew out of Li's lungs as he slid across the ground. Despite the flying dirt, he managed to see Meilin jump towards him for a flying sidekick into the ground. A quick somersault got Li to his feet and saved his torso from being crushed.

A flurry of five jabs came his way. Li crossed his forearms over his body and took the four attacks. A fifth shot forward, but the swordsman parried the shot downwards. The nanosecond opening allowed Li to turn on the balls of his feet into Meilin's guard and under her center of gravity. He grabbed the girl by the collar of her garment and effortlessly threw her over his shoulder.

The throw had no effect on her. The girl merely flipped through the air and landed on her feet with no effort. Seconds later she flew through the air again. This time in the form of a flying knee kick.

Li bent his body back. The attack past over him with inches to spare. She landed with a slight stumble. He saw his chance. The swordsman whipped his body around like a whip. His spinning round kick, met Meilin's forearm. Her arms wrapped around his leg, trapping it. But Li jumped forward, brining him nose-to nose with Meilin. Left jabs tagged her in the face, making her reel back and release his leg. A right haymaker followed soon after. Meilin leaned back allowing the punch to whiz by her. Li gritted his teeth and tried to reestablish his guard, but Meilin moved too fast. A horse-like sidekick slammed into his exposed ribs.

The swordsman cried out as his ribs cracked at the impact. He stumbled back and Meilin rushed in. He glanced down at her foot and knew what came next.

A right round kick shot his way. He met the kick with own right round. Their shins slammed together with such impact that it sent the two combats flying back.

"Amazing," Sakura breathed. "It's like they're fighting their own reflections."

"That's what happens when you're trained under the same master," Eriol said.

"At this rate, Li won't be able to find an opening," Tomoyo observed.

"He can, just not through fighting," Eriol said. "We need to awaken her spirit somehow."

"What did you say?" Sakura asked, her mind already brining something to her memory.

"Awaken her spirit," Eriol repeated. "Lu Tsung's magic controls her body obviously. But if we awaken her spirit that may give us some chance of saving her. Why?"

"Because….that lady, Kaho, she said something like that."

_Flashback_

"_Who are you?"Sakura asked, following the strange red-haired priestess. _

"_We can save introductions for later," she said with a reassuring smile. _

_Sakura knew that she shouldn't trust this woman. If her travels had taught her anything, it was not everything was as it seems. This woman could be anyone. Or part of some trap by Lu Tsung. But her smile, her walk, her voice, it all seemed so calming. Sakura felt at ease already, like she had just met with an old friend. Why was that? _

"_Thank you for saving us," Tomoyo said. _

"_We're not out of this yet." The woman reached into the rectangular pouch on her waist and pulled out a card. "Sakura-chan, you'll need this card to help Meilin-chan." _

_Sakura took the card and turned it over. It read: _

"_The Flower." _

"_What does this card spirit do?" she asked, although she already had an idea. _

"_It creates flowers," Kaho said cheerfully. "Use this instead of your other cards." _

"_But…but….how can creating flowers help Meilin-chan?" _

"_When the time comes…you'll know." _

_Flashback End_

Sakura pulled out the card and showed it to Eriol. "Mizuki-san said to use this instead of my other cards."

"How the heck can flowers help in this situation?" Kero asked.

"Does it have any other effect Sakura-chan?" Eriol asked, tapping his chin in thought.

"No, she just said it makes flowers."

"Eriol-kun, do you know how it can help?" Tomoyo asked the doctor.

"No," he admitted. "But if Kaho said it, it must be true in some way."

"You better figure it out fast, because that brat is on the attack again," Kero said, turning the group's attention back to the fight.

Li let out a grunt as he blocked another flurry of punches. Part of him started to miss his sword. With it at least he would have had some kind of advantage. He mentally shook his dodged and dodged a side kick. No hand-to-hand was best. He just needed to find a way to open her up long enough for the others to strike.

Easier said than done obviously.

They were too much alike and not just in fighting techniques. Their battle rhythm, their timing, their feints, their attack strategies, it was all exactly the same. He went high, she went high. He went low; she went low, and so on.

She had no openings because he had no openings.

The thought of not fighting like himself crossed his mind. But Wei's style was too hammered into his mind and body. He just couldn't fight any other way.

Meilin rushed forward. Li brought up his guard and their synchronized battle continued.

He blocked several more attacks, his mind racing for a way to hold her. That's when it hit him.

He parried another punch and forced Meilin back with a front kick. As he expected, she dashed towards him. Li turned to run towards the brush where the others hid.

"Hey stuffed animal!" he called. "Attack!"

"What? What about the plan?" Kero shouted.

"Just do it damn it!"

Meilin began to close in.

A blast of fire exploded from the bushes. Meilin stopped in her tracks and jumped to the side. But Li was there already waiting for her. He sprang up behind her and locked his cousin in the tightest full nelson he could muster.

"SAKURA! ERIOL! NOW! LET'S GO!" he bellowed with all his might.

Sakura's stomach jumped. This is it. She had to pick. The Woody card would defiantly stop Meilin. But what if Mizuki-san was right? What if it wouldn't work? If it didn't Meilin could overpower Li and beat him. So should she use the Flower like Mizuki said? But how could flowers help them? If it did nothing then that would be just as bad as Woody failing. Eriol said that if Mizuki said it then had to be true. But how could he be so sure?

"Sakura-san, what are you waiting for?" Eriol exclaimed.

"I-I-I…" Sakura stuttered.

"GUYS HURRY UP!" Li shouted, already losing control. Meilin slammed her elbow into his face, stunning him.

"Sakura-chan, please hurry!" Tomoyo pressed.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed a card from her pocket. She hoped she was right, for everyone's sake.

She held up the card and cried out is name.

"Woody, bind my foe!"

The spirit sprang from the card and the plan came to motion.

AN: And….cliffhanger! Well sort of. Originally I was going to end it without revealing which card she picked. But then I realize that would be way too cruel. I also realize this chapter isn't much like the preview I left you guys with last time. During my writing of that chapter, everything just went too fast with what I originally intended on so I had Kaho add in a few things. Also this chapter explains why Sakura hasn't run into other cards yet, Kaho has most of them. How many does she have exactly? Now you know I can't tell you that. ^_^. I hope this chapter was worth the three month wait. Oddly enough, I'm actually satisfied with quality of this one. I wanted to make it long, but I just tired myself out. This is officially the longest arc in the story so far. But we're getting close to the end. In fact next chapter will finally see the end of this arc. (Thank goodness). Also I've started a new fic called "Padawan Kakarot" which is basically, when Planet Vegeta gets blown up Kakarot gets hurled into the Star Wars galaxy and is raised as a Jedi. But then at the same time Sidious finds a baby Broly and his father. Can Kakarot stop the rise of the Galactic Empire or will Broly's new abilities prove too much for him this time? If that synopsis excites you, then please go check it out. If you're a fan of Dragonball and Star Wars you'll like it (I hope). I've also posted another version of my original story on Fictionpress, please check that out as well. I know, I know, shameless plugs, but what can I say, I love getting new readers. Anyways, as always here's the preview for the next chapter. See you there!

_Kero: With Lu Tsung revealing his true power and Sakura using the Wood card instead, this fight takes a serious turn for the worst! _

_Sakura: I don't understand! What went wrong? _

_Tomoyo: How can flowers reach Meilin-chan? Does the answer lie in her past? What happened that caused all of this? _

_Kero: Meanwhile that weird priestess lady is fighting for her life against Lu Tsung. How the hell can we all make it through this? Wait a minute? Who's that person watching? _

_Tomoyo: So please join us next time for: "The Day Long Battle to the Death part 5!" _

_Sakura: Why does Mizuki-san seem so familiar to me? _


	78. The Day Long Battle to the Death part 5

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 78

"Woody, bind my foe!" With the order in place the spirit burst from its card. Taking the form of vines, it quickly wrapped around Meilin's limbs. Li jumped back as the vines climbed up Meilin's body. In a matter of seconds her arms, legs, and waist were bound together with the vines but the girl still struggled against the plant spirit.

"Eriol, now's your chance!" Li called out.

The doctor leaped from the bushes with Sakura and the others in tow. His hands glowed an emerald green signaling that he was ready for his part of the plan.

"How long do you think I'll have?" he asked the swordsman.

"Hard to say." Li turned to Sakura who had her gaze set on the bound Meilin. "How long can it hold it for?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura said. "It's a gentle spirit but she's tough." The image of being on the receiving end of the Wood card, after attempting to use it on Yue flashed through her mind. It had been almost impossible for her to move, let alone break free. Despite the arbor aspect of the spirit, its vines felt as tough as steel. Meilin wasn't moving for awhile, Sakura knew that for sure.

'So why did Mizuki-san want me to use this Flower Card so badly?' Sakura thought. The plan was going perfectly. Meilin was unhurt and bound, and Eriol would soon figure out how they could help her. What would be the point of the Flower Card? How could flowers help in this situation? Did Mizuki know something about the card that she failed to tell her? If so why? Wasn't she here to help?

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Tomoyo asked, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts.

"I'll be fine. I just hope Meilin-chan will return to normal soon."

"I do too."

By now, Meilin had stopped struggling and merely glared at her friends with her empty ruby eyes. Rage built up in Li's stomach as he stared at her face. Lu Tsung was going to pay for he did to her, that much he knew for sure.

Eriol took two careful steps forward. There were several spells he could use to find out what Lu Tsung did to Meilin but many of them required time and equipment that they could neither spare nor had. Even without that however, he could safely deduce that the problem wasn't mind control. That required the caster to remain close to the victim, constantly pouring their energy into the spell. And from what he could feel Lu Tsung was almost three miles away and getting farther. Even with all his power, not even Lu Tsung could maintain the spell from that distance.

It wasn't a marionette-type spell either. Like mind control the caster had to remain close to the victim. More importantly, puppeteer spells only allowed for the simplest of movements. Puppeteer spells did not impede free will. It only controlled the limbs of the victim. With free-will still intact, most users could only force victims to use simple attacks; otherwise they would stretch their influence too thin and give the victim a chance to reject them. From Meilin's fight with Li that defiantly wasn't the case.

So what was it? There was only one way to know, he had to dive into her mind. Eriol took a heavy breath. How he loathed this technique. Not only did it take up almost all his energy and leave his body all but useless for a time, but diving into another mind was always an unpleasant experience. The mind is where people hide their deepest darkest secrets and aspects of themselves. He'd only been forced to use this technique only a few times but each time left him with much more information about the person than he meant to see. But in this instance he had no choice.

Meilin watched his every movement like a trapped animal. Her ruby eyes flashed a sign of challenge to the doctor by the time he was nose-to-nose with her. He raised his hands to her head, causing her to restart her struggling.

"Forgive me for this, Meilin-chan," he muttered to her, hoping that somehow her true self heard him. With that Eriol clasped his hands on her temples and shut his eyes. As the probe started, Meilin let out a loud cry that echoed around the forest. Eriol mentally let out another apology before pushing harder.

"W-What just happened?" Sakura asked when she realized that both Eriol and Meilin were completely still.

"He's gone into her mind," Li said simply.

"He can do that…?" Keroberos muttered.

"You're surprised?"

"No….but a little warning beforehand would have nice," the beast said. "Remind me to empty all my thoughts the next time I'm around him."

"I would, if you had any thoughts to begin with."

"What'd you say?"

"How long will he be in there for?" Tomoyo asked, changing the subject.

"Hopefully as long it takes for him to figure out what that bastard did to her," Li replied.

But their wait would be much shorter. Within moments a loud scream caught their attention. Li took a closer look and saw the aura around Eriol's hands increasing. But that wasn't problem. The problem was that Eriol's aura was being absorbed by Meilin's body. It was then Li realized it wasn't Meilin screaming and thrashing around, it was Eriol!

Li grabbed the doctor's hands and threw him off his cousin, stopping the process but it was too little too late he realized. Meilin began to struggle against the vines again but this time she was making progress. A single tug from her right arm snapped off most of the vines and the same with her left. Li whirled around to Tomoyo. They had only seconds to act.

"Daidouji! Strings! Now!" he shouted unable to even form complete sentences.

"Why? What happened?"

"No time to explain damn it! Just do it!"

The girl nodded and pulled out her cat bells. The threads quickly wrapped around Meilin's limbs, reinforcing the vines and the halting her escape. For now.

"Eriol! What the hell happened in there?" he asked over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off his cousin.

"I-I-I….don't know….." the doctor muttered. His voice was dry and haggard. As if he had gone days without water. His bleached face and the sweat on his brow told Li that Meilin somehow had taken more from him than just his power.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Some kind of barrier," was all Eriol managed between his pants. "It drained me and threw me out."

"How is that even possible?" Sakura asked.

"Everyone, look!" Tomoyo called out.

Even with Tomoyo's threads cutting into her wrists, Meilin never stopped her thrashing. Blood oozed out the deepening wound and down her fingertips, forming a small pool by her feet. With each thrash the vine and threads snapped.

"Sakura!" Li said. "Use the Wood card again."

"Right. Woody, bind my foe!"

More vines sprang out from the card. In a matter of seconds, the vines completely covered Meilin.

"Did it stop her?" Kero asked.

As if on cue, Meilin's fist burst through the vine entrapment. The hand opened and began to tear through her bindings as if they were paper. Her left fist emerged next, then her elbow and knee. Sakura summoned the card once more, adding more vines to the weakened trap. Meilin's struggling immediately died down at the added pressure and vines.

A wave of relief passed through the group, but as before it only lasted a moment. With a single yell and a burst of ki energy that Li had never sensed from his cousin, Meilin exploded out from the vines. Before any could react, the ruby-eyed girl was upon them.

A swift front kick to Li's chin knocked the swordsman back into the bushes. The moment she landed, she already dashed towards the recovering Eriol. Her forearm blocked the incoming staff strike and pulled the doctor into a barrage of punches throughout of his body.

"Meilin-chan, stop!" Sakura shouted rushing in from behind her.

Unfortunately for Sakura her cry only caught Meilin's attention. The girl finished off the dazed doctor with a kick to his legs, bringing him down and dashed towards the emerald-eyed girl.

Before Sakura knew it, what looked like five punches were rocketing towards her at the same time. Her forearms flew up to block but the attacks seemed to bend around her guard. Never before had Sakura felt such hard blows. She felt her stomach contract after the first punch and the air leave her lungs after the second. After the third struck, she couldn't even feel the fourth one. And by the fifth one her world went black.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cried out.

At the sound of another possible victim, Meilin dashed towards the dark haired girl. The ruby-eyed girl seemed to move faster than Tomoyo could think. Her hands flew down to her bells, but by the time she grabbed them, Meilin was already right in front of her with six punches already flying. Tomoyo squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the impact but instead a burst of fire from Keroberos pushed Meilin back.

"Kero-chan!"

"What are you waiting for?" the beast snapped. "Tie her up while I got her pinned!" He whirled his head back to his opponent, who had already recovered from the surprise attack. Meilin focused her eyes on the winged beast and charged full force.

The beast let loose another blast of fire while Tomoyo shot out more thread. Meilin's hands flew up over her body to protect herself. The fire struck like a rough wind pushing her back. But much to Kero's confusion that was all the fire seemed to be doing. But before he could really think about it, the thread slithered up Meilin's body, entrapping her once again.

Tomoyo pulled on the thread to bring the girl down, but Meilin dug her feet into the ground and struggled against the force. Tomoyo felt her feet slide forward. She had no idea Meilin was this strong. But nevertheless she had to bring her down somehow. She gritted her teeth and pulled on the strings with all her might. Meilin stumbled forward but recovered her footing.

Seeing her plight, Keroberos charged towards the bound Meilin. With a savage roar the beast threw out his shoulder for a fierce tackle. But Meilin saw it coming. When the beast was just inches away, the girl leaped over the winged beast. As he passed over her a double kick slammed into his exposed back. A loud roar of pain echoed through the forest as Kero felt his back convulse. As the beast went down, Meilin pushed off against him and rocketed towards Tomoyo.

Tomoyo had no time to think. Her hand flew to her kunai but she was too slow. Meilin's leg whirled into her ribs like whip. Time slowed to stop for Tomoyo as immense pain ran up and down the entire side of her body. Her face scrunched together to push down the cry boiling in her throat. But as Meilin followed through with the kick, it was of no use. As time returned to normal speed, Tomoyo's cries of pain filled the entire forest.

Her cries reached Sakura's ears, allowing her eyes to snap open. She managed to sit up despite the pain running up and down her body. Her vision was dark and blurry while her body felt as heavy as a boulder. But despite her aliments she could still see Tomoyo on the ground, clutching her sides, crying out pain with Meilin standing over her, ready to throw another punch.

Ignoring the pain screaming in her body, Sakura jumped to her feet and fired the strongest blast of wind she could muster. The wind hurled Meilin back far into the brush, allowing Sakura to rush over to her best friend. What she saw broke her heart. Tomoyo's hand clutched at her sides while shallow and fast breaths escaped her lips. Streams of tears and blood ran down her cheeks. Sakura managed to shake her awake. Her eyes opened and Sakura could only pain in her friend's expression.

"S-Sakura-chan...it hurts..." Tomoyo hiccupped. "It hurts so bad..."

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes as she watched her friend's agony. She clutched Tomoyo's hand and brushed her cheek in a vain attempt to soothe the pain.

"You'll be okay," she whispered.

Tomoyo managed a nod but her face immediately scrunched together as a fresh wave of pain ran through her. Sakura's hand curled into tight fist. Her own pain was long forgotten as she stood, a fire boiling in her stomach. She glanced over at Kero who struggled to get up. Like Tomoyo, pain was the only expression on his face.

"Kero-chan, are you alright?"

The beast collapsed with a huff. "No... That damn brat almost snapped my spine!"

A rustle in the bushes told Sakura that Meilin was coming for another round. Tomoyo and Kero needed to be moved. If they were around, Meilin would just go after them again. Sakura refused to allow their conditions to be made worse. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Eriol still unconscious. Why hadn't his healing ability come into play yet? She had seen Eriol get up from fairly severe injuries in only a few seconds. Why wasn't he getting up this time? Another rustle caught her attention. Meilin was getting closer.

"Eriol-kun," she called. "Eriol-kun, please get up."

At the sound of her voice, Eriol managed to sit up. As he made his way towards her, Sakura saw that the doctor's movements were slow and deliberate. With each step he took he grimaced, as if it was a great effort just to walk. His breaths came in short bursts, a pained expression accompanying each one. Some blood trickled down his chin and bruises decorated his usually smooth face. Sakura looked down at his legs and saw his was walking with a limp. The awkward angle of his right leg told her why. In short he was a mess. But why wasn't he healing himself?

The doctor finally reached Sakura but doubled-over at her feet. His body giving into the pain. Despite his damaged appearance, he still managed a smile.

"It's been a while since I've been this wounded," he said with a laugh. "It's kind of refreshing. Almost forgot what pain felt like."

The rapid sound of the rustling bushes told Sakura there was no time to joke around. They had to move fast.

"Eriol-kun, why aren't you healing yourself?"

His smile dropped as he answered plainly. "I can't."

Sakura could already hear Meilin's battle-cry. There was no time.

"What do you mean you can't? What happened?"

"I...I'm not sure," he said. "Something happened when I tried to enter her mind. I've been trying to use my powers but it's like they're not there."

"Y-You're not making sense. Are you saying you lost your powers?"

"I don't get it myself," he said, eying the bushes as well. At best they had only seconds before round 3 started. "But it's like something is blocking the access I have to my powers."

Meilin emerged from the bushes, her empty eyes glaring at Sakura with a vengeance. Sakura formed her staff and shifted into a stance.

"I'm sorry Sakura-san," Eriol sighed. "It looks like I'm all but useless now."

"No, you're not," Sakura said, not taking her eyes off Meilin or Tomoyo who managed to remain still despite her pain. "Do you think you can move Tomoyo-chan and Kero-chan out of here?"

Eriol nodded and stood up, despite the effort it took him. "I can do that at least."

His movement caught Meilin's eyes and she immediately shot towards the weakened doctor. Sakura quickly slammed her staff on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust between Eriol and Meilin. The silhouettes of Eriol carrying Tomoyo bridal style with Kero in his borrowed form caught her eye. When they escaped the dust cloud, Sakura released the air she had been holding in. At least they were safe for now.

Still they were in trouble. With Eriol unable to use his magic, they had no idea how they could help Meilin. And without Tomoyo to use her threads as back-up, using the Wood card would be no use either. They weren't by water, which ruled out using Watery. And Shadow and Voice would be no help in this situation at all. So what did that leave? What could any of them do to help Meilin?

By the time the cloud cleared and Meilin set her eyes on her again, Sakura was still at a loss. Her hand fell to the Flower card that Kaho Mizuki gave her. For what had to be the twentieth time in an hour, she questioned how flowers could help.

A loud cry from Meilin caught her attention. Sakura looked up only to see the ruby-eyed girl leaping towards her, faster than she could think. Sakura raised her staff in a vain defense attempt and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Sakura, get down!" she heard. Recognizing his voice immediately, Sakura did as he said. Li flew over her in a flying sidekick that slammed into the leaping Meilin, knocking her back several yards. As she recovered, Li whirled around to help Sakura to her feet.

"Are you all right?" they asked each other in unison. The synchronized question gave them both pause causing a slight shade of red to form on their cheeks.

"I'm fine," Sakura answered breaking the abashed silence.

Li looked at her bruises up and down. "Right..."

"These are nothing," she insisted. "Tomoyo-chan, Kero-chan and Eriol-kun have it the worst. What about you?"

"I got kicked like twenty yards by a girl with horse-like leg strength, take a guess," he snapped.

Sakura looked down, ashamed. "S-sorry."

Li sighed and rubbed his temples. Now really wasn't the time for this, but something about her face just bugged him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Meilin still hadn't emerged yet. He must have kicked her harder than he wanted to. Still that at least gave them an extra couple seconds.

"No, I'm sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't have snapped like that. It's just..."

"You're worried about Meilin-chan," she finished for him.

Li glanced at her and could only nod. Sakura looked down at his tightened fists that looked like they were going to dig into his skin. His eyes were inflamed with anger and desperation, while his lips were clamped together. He had been this way before, when Meilin was poisoned by Mindfreak's miasma. She hated to see him like this.

Her hand floated to his fist, catching his attention. In his surprise, his fist opened up; allowing her to wrap her hand around his. His body did a slight jump as if he had been hit with static electricity.

"It'll be alright," she said softly. "No matter what happens, we'll be all right."

Their eyes met and his hardened expression softened slightly. He returned her gesture with a slight squeeze from his hand and glanced at the parting bushes. He released her to shift into a fighting stance but this time his face wasn't as intense.

"You ready?" he asked her.

Sakura nodded and held up her staff. She looked down at the Flower card in her pocket. Maybe it was time she took her own advice, she thought as she looked at the card.

"Li, what's Meilin favorite flower?"

"What?"

"What's her favorite flower?" she repeated with more urgency as Meilin jumped out again.

"A flower called the White Jade," he said following Meilin with his eyes. "Why? Are you going to give her a bouquet?"

Sakura just smiled at him. "Something like that. But we'll need some kind of pond for the lotus blossoms."

"There's a pound through the bushes over there," Li said pointing to where Meilin kicked him.

"Are you sure?"

Li smirked. "Considering the fact I practically skimmed over it when she kicked me, yeah I'm pretty sure."

Sakura pulled out the Flower card. "Can you lead her there?"

"No problem."

With that Li dashed towards his cousin, who returned the action. Meilin whirled into a spinning side kick that Li leapt over and whipped his leg across her face with a strong roundhouse kick. Meilin back-flipped to her feet and shot at Li with a knee kick. The swordsman blocked the limb with his forearms and threw a straight jab. As expected Meilin blocked it, giving him time to look over his shoulder. Sakura was dashing into the bushes and would be at the pound in a few seconds.

His brief pause gave Meilin the opening she wanted. She spun into her cousin and slammed her elbow in his face, stunning him. Her hands grabbed his robes and pulled him into several knee strikes before throwing him over her shoulder.

Li rolled out of the way of the incoming punch and brought her down with a leg sweep. When she got up he was already running into the bushes. He had no idea what Sakura was planning but he just had to believe in her. He wasn't sure what it was but something in her eyes told him that everything really was going to be all right.

Sakura emerged from the bushes at the pond. It was a sizable oval shape with water so clear it had almost a direct reflection of the sky. Lilly pads floated aimless while frogs hopped onto them for a quick rest. She shook her head to focus herself. She'd admire the scenery later. The pulse of Li's aura reached her. They were close. She looked at the card one more time. Doubt bubbled in her chest. For the life of her she couldn't figure out the card's significance. She was near water; maybe the Watery card would be better. No. It had to be this card. Nothing else they've tried has worked, she thought to herself. She just had to believe in it.

When Li sped out of the bushes towards her, Sakura knew she had run out of time for doubt. It was now or never.

"No matter what happens, we'll be alright," she whispered to herself.

"She's coming," Li said. "You ready?"

Sakura nodded. As if on cue, Meilin emerged from the bushes, her eyes fixed on the two of them. This had to work. It just had to. With a deep breath, Sakura threw all caution to the wind and threw the card up in the air.

"Give Meilin a field of flowers! FLOWER!"

Sakura instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. Whatever was going to happen, she couldn't bear to look.

OOOOO

"You're mine priestess!" Lu Tsung shouted as she sped towards the flying priestess.

Five arrows shot from Kaho's bow like a Gatling gun. Lu Tsung flared up his aura making the arrows bounce off him as if they had hit a wall. The wicked uncle thrust his hands forward releasing a blast of red energy toward her. Kaho quickly barrel rolled but found herself on the receiving end of a haymaker. Another punch slammed into her torso before she could wonder how Lu Tsung closed the distance. As stars floated before her eyes, she saw the uncle retract his extended arms.

"You can stretch any part of your body," she said under her breath.

"It was a gift from one of Meilin's brothers, Heung," Lu Tsung said stretched out his arm twenty feet to demonstrate.

Kaho readjusted her jaw. "I'm sure he appreciates it."

"How about one you're more familiar with," he said. "How about something from Jin Shu's arsenal?"

His outstretched arm suddenly became metal and snapped towards Kaho like a snake. The priestess shot up to dodge. Lu Tsung threw out his left arm to catch her. Kaho managed to dodge yet again but the arm curled in mid-air and suddenly morphed into a sword blade. It sliced across her stomach while his right arm slammed down on her head. Kaho quickly recovered but Lu Tsung was already coming her way. She attacked with four arrows but Lu Tsung just smirked.

"Here's another trick!" he exclaimed and his body suddenly became covered with metal. The arrows bounced off him harmlessly. But the new weight caused him to drop from the sky like a rock. Kaho banked to the left, easily avoiding him. But the wicked uncle had another surprise in store. Fire suddenly erupted from the soles of his feet giving him control of his fall. The uncle did a complete U-turn with his new thrusters and slammed into Kaho metal shoulder first. Kaho flew back but gained back control. She whipped out a card as Lu Tsung closed in for another attack.

"Shot!" she cried out. The card fulfilled its namesake as it sped towards the metal man. But like her arrows, the spirit merely bounced off the armor like it was nothing.

"Nice try," Lu Tsung laughed. "Now try this!" The armor broke off into large shards that circled out its wearer. With a single gesture from Lu Tsung, the shards flew towards Kaho like a group of killer bees.

"Dao Wang's Golem Swarm…." She muttered before the aerial dodging dance began.

Despite her best maneuvers the shards cut her at every angle. They circled around her, slicing into every part of her skin, getting under guard, finding a way around every dip or turn she did. This must have been what Keroberos felt when he faced off against this technique. There was no way for her to mount a counterattack. She could only defend. So she needed the strongest defense she could muster. She managed to reach into her pouch and grab the card she needed.

"Shield, protect me." The blue sphere soon encompassed her, shutting out the shards.

Lu Tsung called the shards back, reforming his armor, when it proved impossible for them to break the shield.

"Clever," he said. "But that shield can't hold forever."

"You'd be surprised," Kaho said simply.

"Would I now?" he said. "Well let's try it out! Phoenix Flare!"

Fire blasted at the shield pushing it back, but could not break it. Lu Tsung halted the attack but tried again. His attacks came nowhere close to breaking the shield but Kaho knew she couldn't just stay and wait for him to tire himself out. If she wanted to take the offensive she would need to get past that armor.

"Transfer your strength to my body. Power."

As soon as the pink aura took hold, Kaho sped out of the shield. Lu Tsung met her charge head on. His armored fist shot out to meet her. She banked left avoiding the punch and threw out several of her own, all of which Lu Tsung dodged with ease. The priestess grunted but kept up her barrage. But after several minutes it became clear she couldn't hit him. His defense seemed to be all around his body. The priestess pulled back and came back in with a feint. Lu Tsung saw right through it. He grabbed her first right hook and pulled her into five jabs and a hay-maker that sent her crashing into the ground.

Kaho shook her head to recover her wits in her crater. She gave her wings a quick flap to make sure they were still functional. They would still support her but the priestess allowed herself a frown at the state of the wings. The usually prime and pristine wings were now torn, bruised and covered with dirt and grime. She hoped the spirit would forgive her for mistreating its wings like this. But she had no other choice. Lu Tsung required nothing less than her best. She was immune to his copying technique yes but the man still had the techniques of over a thousand others to choose from. She had to wonder how his body could keep all that magical energy from destabilizing his being. Kaho shook her head at the thought. Figuring that out was a job for her master. She had to focus her own duties, keep Sakura and her friends safe.

She stared at the rectangular pouch on her belt. Her arrows and the Shot card had proved to be no use against him, she would need to use stronger cards. She'd hoped the Power card would give her an edge but close quarters combat was not her strong suit. Luckily she had a card to overcome that hurdle.

"Give my body your skill. Fight."

The blue spirit emerged from its card and bowed to the priestess. Its body evaporated into a turquoise mist that entered Kaho's body. Immediately the priestess felt her muscles expand and tighten. Images of countless counters, grabs, kicks and punches flashed her through her mind. Before she knew it, she stood in her crater throwing out warm up punches and kicks like thirty year expert.

"What's wrong priestess?" Lu Tsung called from the sky. "Have you given up?"

Kaho smiled at him and shifted into a stance. "No, just catching my second wind."

With that she shot up towards her waiting opponent, a punch already cocked back.

The two clashed in a great shock-wave that echoed through the sky as their battle continued.

OOOOO

Kill the targets. That was the only thought Meilin had. Three of them were already down and only two remained. She chased the amber-eyed one into the bushes. They came before a pond where the girl waited. She yelled something about flowers. Her pink wand came up and slammed on a floating card. Whatever she did it seemed to have no effect.

Meilin rushed towards the girl who squeezed her eyes shut. The green clad boy came at her. Meilin gritted her teeth. She'd had enough of his interference. His movements were slowed from the kick she'd given him earlier. She sidestepped his punch and slammed a kick into his extended arm. The loud _snap_ and his cry of pain told her all she needed to know. A round kick brought him down. The girl cried out his name as Meilin dashed to finish him. He grabbed a fistful of the ground. Meilin flipped him over to finish him when he thrust whatever he grabbed to her face.

A white flower stared back at her. Her body froze.

Bell shaped petals circled around the flower with a bright green stigma. Her heart jumped. The target pushed the flower closer. She stepped back, only to realize that an entire field of that flower was before her. The boy's mouth began to move and what was once just noise began to make sense.

"…Meilin...Remember!"

A pulse ran through her making her legs buckle. Her breath caught in her throat. Something, someone was crying out to her. Crying for her to stop. Begging her not to hurt the people in front her. They were friends. Friends….Another pulse ran its course and before she knew it she was on her knees. The small voice only grew louder.

"Stop! Don't hurt them!" the voice cried out. "Don't hurt Syaoran!"

Syaoran? That name….so familiar.

"Mother wouldn't want this!"

"M-m-mother…." She repeated.

Before long the memories began to flash before her eyes.

AN: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! And here's my thanksgiving treat for you, a DOUBLE UPDATE! Which is a first for me because just making one takes all day. But what happened was this chapter went way over my normal page limit. Meilin's flashbacks took so many pages that I figured it was better off making a whole other chapter as a flashback chapter. But even with the second chapter which I'm sure you'll be jumping to, the flashbacks still aren't finished. Anyways, no need for a preview, so I'll just see you all next chapter!


	79. Reminiscence of Love

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 79

_Flashback _

_She was five years old, running through a garden. Her hair was tied in two buns with red ribbons to match her dress. An aged man followed her, telling her not to run through the compound, but his warning faded away when she saw her mother. _

"_Mommy!" she called. _

_The woman had been watering several plants when she heard her daughter's call. She barely had time to set down the watering pail when her daughter jumped into her arms. _

"_Goodness. If you still have this much energy after practice, perhaps we should make it longer," her mother said with a smile. "Good afternoon, Wei. Meilin-chan was no trouble I hope?" _

_The senior man returned her smile. "No trouble at all, Lady Ai Lian." _

_Ai Lian was a tall woman. She surpassed Wei in height by two inches. Her slender body was covered by a white silk robe. Bright yellow bordered the sleeves of the dress while a crimson red sash wrapped around her waist, the colors of the Li branch family. Her dark hair was tied in a high ponytail that was kept in place by a silver ornament. She looked down at Meilin with her matching ruby eyes. _

"_Did you learn anything new today?" _

"_Yeah! I can do the whirlwind kick now!" _

_Ai Lian's smile brightened. "You finally got it?" _

"_Yeah! Look!" Meilin jumped and twisted her small body into a windmill-like spin. She managed two full rotations before falling into her mother's waiting arms. _

"_The landing still needs more work however," Wei said with a chuckle. _

"_I almost had it..." Meilin grumbled. _

"_Don't worry," her mother said patting her head. "You'll get it." _

"_My lady is there anything else you require from me?" Wei asked. _

"_You're dismissed Wei," she replied. "I'm sure my husband and Yelan need your help to prepare for the meeting this afternoon." _

"_Of course my lady. I will see you at the meeting." _

"_Eh? What meeting mommy?" Meilin asked when the butler left. "Can I come?" _

"_Oh, it's nothing you'd be interested in dear," Ai Lian said, making her way through the garden. "Just a bunch of grown-ups yelling at each other." _

"_But you're always gone for a really long time when you go."_

"_I know but daddy always insists that I go with him," she said, then added under her breath, "I don't know why he doesn't get any of his mistresses to go." She stared intently at the flowers before her as if they were the cause of her displeasure. Her hands gripped the hem of her dress in tight fists. A faint flush and a scowl decorated her face. When she remained silent for a few minutes, Meilin tugged on her dress. _

"_Mommy? Is something wrong?" _

_Whatever was bothering her seemed to evaporate the moment she looked at her daughter. Her bright smile quickly replaced her earlier scowl. "It's nothing sweetie." _

"_OK." She had to be fine. When someone smiled, that meant everything was OK. Maybe it was that flower that got her so mad. She tugged her mother's dress again. "Can I please go with you, mommy?" _

_Ai Lian sighed. "All right, but please be quiet. Those grown-ups don't like children very much." _

"_Huh...why?" _

_Her mother managed a smile. "Because they're no fun. Now go get ready, best clothes." _

_Meilin ran back towards the compound, excitement written all over her face. _

_End Flashback _

Li tried to move his right arm, only for immense pain to shoot up and down his body. Definitely broken, but his arm wasn't important. His cousin had dropped to her knees, her body limp. Color had drained from her face, making her sweat more pronounced as it rolled down her brow. Her mouth hung open as if she were trapped in mid-scream. Her eyes had widened to size of melons yet her pupils and irises had shrunken beyond recognition. Sakura had done all of this with just flowers. He glanced at her as she made her way over to him. She was just full of surprises.

"Li, your arm."

"I've had worse, you know that," he replied. "What...did you do to her?"

Sakura looked at the stunned Meilin. Concern ran through her when she saw that Meilin wasn't moving. "I'm...not sure," she answered truthfully. "I just did what Mizuki-san told me to do."

"And what did she tell you exactly?"

"That the Flower card would awaken her spirit," Sakura said. Her eyes faced Meilin again, making her voice drop. "I hope this isn't what she meant."

"That woman and her riddles," Li growled. "She's as bad as Eriol when it comes to messing with people."

"How do you and Eriol-kun know her? You both seemed really surprised she was here."

Li sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "She taught me and Eriol along with Wei."

Sakura's eyes lit up at the name. "Meilin-chan mentioned him when we were stuck in that cave. She said he taught her the basics."

Li stared at Meilin and sighed again. "He taught her a lot more than that. He was more than teacher for her. For all three of us really."

"I see."

"As for Kaho…she always came and went," he went on. "I never knew where. She'd just show up one day and was gone the next. The last time I saw her was when….." He stopped himself. His throat constricted together, trapping the next few words. Sakura looked at him her emerald eyes, obviously she was interested in what he was going to say. Amber met emerald and Li managed to shake off whatever held him back.

"The last time I saw her was when she told me about the jewels. And where to find the Kamikaze necklace," he finished.

Sakura's eyes widened at the new information. "Hoe…it was her?"

"Yeah…"

_Flashback _

_He stood outside a small house. Rain poured down on the world with a vengeance. Blood poured out his body head-to-toe, making him a bull's-eye in the zero visibility weather. Wails escaped from the house window behind him. A woman was crying out for the loss of her daughter. Curses against him, the Li family and fate filled the air. He took it all without a word. He deserved far worse at any rate. _

"_You heartless monster!" she wailed. "What have you done to her!" _

_Monster. Yes, that what he was. There was no other way around it now. _

_Before his mental tirade could continue, an umbrella floated above him. He looked up and saw Kaho Mizuki looking back at him. She smiled at him despite everything. He looked away. He didn't deserve any smiles after all this. She remained silent for several minutes before leaning down to his ear. _

"_You can change your fate," she whispered. "You can prevent this from ever happening again." _

"…_How?" he asked simply. His doubt seemed to have died along with the girl._

"_The Seven Deadly Jewels," she said._

"_I thought that was just a legend?" _

_Kaho shook her head. "Go west. You'll find the first one in a small town not far away from a forest."_

"_That could be any town. How will I know which one?" _

_But Kaho was already walking away. "Don't worry; you'll know when you find it." _

_End flashback_

"So she knew where to find me?" Sakura said in disbelief.

"Well not you specifically," Li corrected. "Just your mother's necklace."

"But I can't help but feel like she knows me somehow," she said. "And it feels like I know her. Something about her voice, I don't know."

Li shrugged. He certainly didn't have an answer. Mizuki always confused the hell out of him.

"There's something else too," Sakura said, catching his attention. "This is the first time you've been so open about your past with me. I really appreciate it."

A shade of red colored his face. He turned away, hoping she didn't see it. "W-well don't get used to it."

Her smile only widened. "I know."

"I-in any case, where are the others?" he asked, wanting a change of subject.

"Present!" came a familiar voice. Eriol emerged from the bushes with Tomoyo unconscious on his back and Kero in his pocket. The doctor walked with a noticeable limp from both Tomoyo's weight and his fractured leg. His eyes shifted from Li and Sakura when he saw Meilin's dazed form. "Did I miss something important?"

"I'll explain later," Li said.

"Is Tomoyo-chan going to be okay?" Sakura asked

Eriol sat her down gently. "Some of my powers have returned, so I was able to dull the pain at least. But I won't be able do more until they fully return."

Sakura eyed Tomoyo's labored breathing and Li's broken arm. "How long will that take?"

The doctor sighed and shrugged. "I don't know."

"So no matter what we do, we have to wait," Li said.

"Afraid so," Eriol replied.

The group let out a collective sigh made themselves comfortable. Whatever affect the Flower card was having, it was all up to Meilin now.

_Flashback _

_She was dressed in a bright yellow robe, with a sunflower design running down from her sleeves. She walked hand-in-hand with her mother who was dressed in a crimson red robe with with a pristine white bordering the sleeves. She had colored her lips with rouge that gave her an air of dignified sexuality. Her left arm carried an extensive floral arrangement she had spent the afternoon developing. It looked beautiful but Meilin couldn't understand why her mother spent so much time on it. As per habit, she tugged on her mother's dress. _

"_Mommy, why do you have those flowers with you?" _

"_It's a welcoming bouquet dear," she answered. "It's to make our guests feel welcome and comfortable." _

"_Why do you need flowers for that?" _

_Ai Lian stopped and lowered herself to Meilin's eye level. "Flowers can be very powerful Meilin-chan. People can react very strongly to certain types of flowers." _

"_How can flowers do that?"_

"_Flowers can speak to people in ways words can't." _

"_But how…" Ai Lian placed a finger on her daughter's lips. _

"_I'll explain it to you later." _

_Meilin nodded and they continued their way down the long hallway. They reached the tall double doors blocked by two armored guards with pikes. They eyed Ai Lian and rapped the golden wolf knocker three times. The door swung open to reveal a long table with six women already seated. Their longer and pointed ears symbolized their demon blood. Sitting in their laps were their sons, with ears only half the length of their mothers'. Ai Lian narrowed her eyes at them. _

"_What are __**they**__ doing here?" she asked, the edge in her voice plain to anyone listening. The guards shifted their feet uncomfortably. _

"_Your husband's orders," the left guard said. "They and their sons have special permission to attend this meeting." _

"_Do they now," she said simply. Meilin winced when her mother's grip on her hand became a vice-grip. "Well gentleman, if you would excuse us."Ai Lian went to walk the past the guards when they crossed their pikes, blocking her path. _

"_I'm sorry milady, but your daughter is not permitted to enter," the right guard said. _

"_**What**__?"Ai Lian growled dangerously. A cold sweat formed on the guard's forehead at her glare. _

"_Y-y-your husband's orders…." The left guard started, but before he could finish, Ai Lian right hand slammed him against the wall. A terrified yelp escaped his lips as he stared straight into her heated glare. _

"_Well…..I'm ordering you now….allow my daughter into this meeting…." _

"_I-I-I am….s-s-sorry madam….but…." the guard stammered. His inability to form sentences only intensified Ai Lian's glare. _

"_Your husband's orders overrule yours," the right guard muttered. _

_Ai Lian shifted her glare to the right hand guard. To his credit he didn't break out into a sweat but he was noticeably uncomfortable. _

"_There is a play area upstairs for your daughter ma'am," he said, unable to look her in the eye. "She can wait for you there." _

"_That area is for the children of our servants," Ai Lian spat. _

_The guard could only look down. "I am aware of that milady. But orders are orders." _

_Her mother turned to her, the scowl still present on her face. "Meilin-chan, go upstairs." _

"_But…" _

"_No buts honey. Now please go. I'll be up soon." _

"_Yes mommy." _

_She climbed up the stairs with a noticeable sulk as she watched her mother enter the room. Meilin bit her lip. She had never seen her mother that angry before. She hoped everything was going to be okay. _

_The play area was several flights up. And when Meilin reached, she realized that it was better off called the rest area. The room itself was small, only half the size of the dining room below. Pillows and futons were scattered about the floor. A balcony extended outwards and overlooked the dining room where the grownups were. _

_A small box of dolls and a jump rope caught her eye, only to realize that were old hand-me-downs from forever ago. Next to the box was a shelf of scrolls for reading. She wasn't that avid of a reader yet, but anything was better than just sitting around. There were quite a few, many with titles she could barely pronounce. After a minute of flipping through them, she realized none of them were at her reading level. She set the scroll aside and picked up two of the old dolls. This was better than nothing. _

_She brushed the hair of the dolls and changed their clothes, while digging through the box to serve as their house. After ten minutes the dolls were finally ready to go to the ball she had set up across the room. That was when she heard the yelling from downstairs. Her mother had been right, all the grownups did was yell at each other. She heard them yell about demon attacks, alliances, Raijou the lightning beast (for whatever reason), and some person named Xian Lang. Meilin didn't understand anything they were saying, she just wanted them to be quiet so she could keep playing. _

_A few minutes later she heard someone coming up the stairs. She dropped her dolls and ran to the door hoping it was her mother, only to be disappointed when a 10-year old boy met her at the door. _

_He was tall, at least compared to her. She only reached his knees. He wore blue robes with a symbol of whatever clan he was from. From his refined dark hair and silk robes, Meilin guessed he was a high ranking servant or something like that. _

_He looked at her with a sneer. Meilin flinched, wondering what he was looking at. She looked down and saw that he had stepped on the doll she had been playing with. _

"_Excuse me, may I have my doll back," she said. _

_The boy didn't move. _

"_May I have my doll back, please?" she tried again, emphasizing the magic word._

"_What's your name?" he asked simply, still refusing to move his foot. _

"_Li Meilin." _

_He smirked. "So you're the one my father has heard rumors about." _

"_Rumors?" _

_He kicked up the doll to his hand and circled around her. "You're the one with no magical abilities." _

_She twitched. Who was this guy? _

"_I heard you had the best blood the Li clan could offer, yet came out with absolutely no magical potential. I had to see such a rare specimen myself." _

_Another twitch and her teeth flashed. _

"_Who are you exactly?" she asked, the edge in her voice similar to her mother's. _

"_Dhagon," he said tossing the doll lightly._

"_Well Dhagon….give me my doll back," Meilin replied, dropping all pleasantness. _

_Dhagon dangled the doll in front of her. "What's a weakling like you going to do about it?" _

_Her hand shot forward but Dhagon pulled it back, making her stumble forward. His laugh, a high pitched, nasal sound made her cringe. She came at him again only for him hold the doll above her, higher than she could jump. She tried anyway but failed. He laughed again. _

"_As I thought, you can't do anything! Makes me wonder why my father even wants to make a deal with your clan!" _

"_I said shut up!" Meilin all but yelled. "Gimme my doll!" _

"_It's no wonder your foolish mother was….."_

_But a swift kick to his groin shut the boy up. The second the boy doubled over, Meilin pulled him into three knee kicks to his face. A kick to his chest made him fly back into the balcony railing. As he attempted to recover, Meilin rushed towards him. She jumped in the air and twirled her body into a perfect whirlwind kick that knocked the boy over the railing. _

_The loud crash and several cries of surprise and dread filled the air. Meilin picked up the doll he dropped. She looked over the railing and saw the boy had crashed face first into the table below. All the adults were staring up at her, including her mother. She shifted under the heated stares of the adults. _

"_Am I in trouble?" _

_End flashback _

A right hook collided with Lu Tsung. The POWER backed attack made the uncle fly across the sky. Kaho flew towards him pressing her attack. Lu Tsung flared his aura, stopping himself. Blasts of ki rocketed towards the flying priestess. Kaho banked and barrel rolled her way around the blasts only to fly into the pathway of a giant fist. The priestess quickly summoned the SHIELD card. The blue orb managed to hold off the gigantic impact but stopped her offensive.

"My, my, aren't you full of surprises," she said calmly as Lu Tsung retracted and shrunk his arm back to normal size.

"So are you," the uncle said. "Those spirit cards you use, they wouldn't happen to be the legendary Clow Cards are they?"

"So what if they are?"

"I'm just wondering how you got them. Legend has it they disappeared with Clow Reed when he died."

Kaho just smiled. "Now you now I can't tell you that."

"Well darn and that was the only thing keeping you alive for this long."

"I know such a pity. I do enjoy this life of mine."

"Well you're about to enjoy your afterlife!"

Kaho bit her lip. He was going to attack, no doubt about it. Their battle had been going on for at least an hour and neither of them had gained the upper hand. Lu Tsung had countless techniques he could pull from, making any offensive she mounted almost worthless. There had to be another method of attacking. As Lu Tsung flew towards her, Kaho looked up at the sky and an idea quickly formed.

She flapped her wings, avoiding the charge and shot straight up into the air.

"Follow me if you dare," she said simply.

Lu Tsung gritted his teeth and chased after her. "You're not getting away from me priestess!"

The harsh air beat against her face. The temperature dropped in seconds after the two soared above the clouds. Kaho looked over her shoulder. Yes he was still following her. Below them the forest had become nothing but a green speck on a grander scale. She flapped her wings harder, giving herself a burst of speed. Something she probably didn't need. She looked over her shoulder again and saw that a great gap had formed between them. A silver cloud of breath formed from his mouth every second. His chest heaved harder and harder with each yard they ascended.

The ground had long since disappeared. It was completely covered by a sea of clouds. A labored breath escaped Lu Tsung's lips. His hands flew to his throat gasping for air. Shards of ice began to form on his eyebrows and lips. Kaho could feel his aura burn itself out trying to keep him alive.

"The thin air is quite harsh isn't it," Kaho said normally. Lu Tsung tried to respond, but his face was the same color as the sky. He cocked his arm back to attack but his arm moved so slowly Kaho didn't even bother to avoid it. The slight movement seemed to burn out every ounce of energy the wicked uncle had left. With one final wheezed out breath, Lu Tsung's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell like a rock to the waiting ground.

"I doubt he's dead," she muttered to herself. "Which is fortunate for me, I know someone who would like a look at him."

_Flashback _

_Her father had always been a distant man. As head of the branch family of the Li clan, he was always in some meeting or another. Meilin always saw him in passing, rarely up close. And even when she was close with him, he never paid her any mind. Meilin had always wished to get his attention somehow. And in way she had gotten her wish, just not in the way anyone would have wanted. _

"_What happened?" her father growled as he paced up and down the dining hall. Like everyone in her family he was tall and lean. Scars ran up and down his oval face from years of fighting. His hands were almost twice the size of her head. He stroked his rugged goatee while his amber eyes glared at her waiting for an answer. She looked away, she had none. _

"_It was only an accident," Ai Lian said for her. _

"_An accident?" he snapped, making bother her and Ai Lian flinch. "It was an accident that your daughter kicked the son of a high ranking clan leader off the balcony and onto a table? Does the words political shit storm mean anything to the two of you?" _

_Ai Lian covered Meilin's ears. "Don't use such language in front of our daughter." _

"_**Our**__ daughter?" her father pointed at her as if she were a sideshow attraction. "Did you really just call this….this….__**DEFECT**__ my daughter!" _

_Ai Lian set Meilin aside and marched up to her husband. "She's certainly has more Li blood in her than those bastard children you're parading as your sons!" _

"_Those six bastard children are twice the heirs she'll ever be!" _

"_How can you say that! She's your daughter, damn it! Like it or not!" _

"_Look at her! She will NEVER be my daughter!" _

_Tear welled up in Meilin's eyes. She dashed out of the room into the pouring rain. _

"_Meilin-chan!" her mother called out to her. "Meilin-chan!" _

_The rain drummed down on her ears. The splashes of the puddles, the steady stream of the rain on her body were all deaf to her. Her body was numb as if she had been in the snow for days. All she could hear were her father's words. She'll never be of the Li clan. He would never love her. He would never acknowledge her. _

_She tripped against her feet, crashing into the mud. Why, why was she the only one who had to feel this way? Why she the only one with one magic? Why was she so worthless? Tears rolled down her face like a stream as the rain continued to pour down on her. She wasn't sure how long she was on the ground but after a while, napkin floated in front of her face. _

"_Don't cry," a gentle voice said. _

_She slowly lifted her head and saw a pool of amber eyes. The boy was a year or two older than her. His chestnut hair perfectly accented his amber eyes. He wore a white shirt and shorts despite the weather. He pushed the napkin closer to her face. _

"_Here, don't cry." _

_She took the napkin from his hands, her eyes never leaving his. She could feel a heat build in her chest and stomach that rose into her cheeks. The longer she stared into his eyes, the warmer she felt. It didn't take long for her to forget it was raining. _

"_Are you okay?" he asked. _

_She could only nod. The heat in her body made her forget how to speak._

_An umbrella floating above them broke her trance. She looked up and saw Wei smiling at her and the boy. _

"_Meilin-chan, I'm glad Lord Syaoran found you." The older man called over his shoulder. "Lady Ai Lian, she's here! I've found her." _

_In a matter of seconds, her mother swept Meilin in her arms. "Meilin-chan! Thank goodness! Thank you for finding her Wei." _

_Wei shook his head. "It was Lord Syaoran who found her." _

_Ai Lian leaned down to the boy. "Then, thank you Lord Syaoran. It seems my sister has raised a fine young boy."_

_Syaoran looked away, but offered a flower to Meilin. It was a white flower with bell shaped petals and a green stigma. She took it without a word. _

"_What do you say Meilin-chan?" _

"_Th-thank you…" she managed._

_The boy nodded at her and walked off with Wei. Meilin could only stare at their retreating figures. _

"_Oh Meilin-chan, I am so sorry," Ai Liang whispered to her. "I'm sorry your father said such horrible things."_

"_Mommy," she said, finally finding words. _

"_Yes honey?" _

"_How old do I have to be to get married?" _

AN: Yep, flashback heavy chapter. Hope you guys don't mind since it answers some questions that haven't been brought up in a while. Also because the focus of this chapter was Meilin's past, the fight between Kaho and Lu Tsung had to end rather abruptly, once again I hope you guys don't mind. Originally I was just going to go into Meilin's past with Lu Tsung, but then I realized I might as well just go into her relationship with her mother and father since it comes into play later. Also the first detailed hint of Li's past as well. Anyways, it all comes to head next chapter, the season finale. Hope to see you guys there! Here's a preview.

_Sakura: Meilin-chan manages to find her way back to us, but that's hardly the end of it. _

_Tomoyo: She goes after Lu Tsung herself to finish him off, but her uncle has one last proposition for her. _

_Sakura: Will Meilin do this one last favor for her uncle? Why is Kaho Mizuki so familiar to me? Who is she working for? Who is behind all of this? _

_Tomoyo: The answer to all of this in the season finale: _"Where I Belong" _you better not miss it! _


	80. Where I Belong

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 80

"_Mommy," she said finally finding words. _

"_Yes honey?" _

"_How old do I have to be to get married?" _

_Ai Lian gaped at her daughter. "W-What did you just say?" _

_Meilin didn't answer. Her gaze was fixed on the spot where Syaoran once stood. Heat filled her round cheeks as she remembered staring into his amber eyes. The drumming of the rain and her heavy wet clothes were long forgotten. She passed her hand over her palm where she had taken the napkin from him. It was still warm. A full grin crossed her lips as she imagined herself in a pristine gown, walking towards his towering figure and beginning their eternal love. He'd turn to her, lean down and give her the best kiss in the whole world. Her heartbeat raced at the thought, drowning out every sound around her._

_Her mother must have taken her out of the rain because when she came out of her dream, she was in her room with a fresh green dress on and servants already bringing dinner. She felt the pull of a comb on her hair and her mother's delicate fingers rolling them into her normal buns. _

"_Welcome back," Ai Lian said as Meilin looked around the mostly red room. _

_Meilin looked up at her mother. "I went somewhere?" _

_Ai Lian tied her buns with green ribbons. "You tell me. Thinking about Syaoran?" She giggled at the surprised look on her daughter's face and continued to brush. "It was written all over your face." _

_Meilin looked down, her face growing a shade of red. "Promise you won't tell mommy?" _

"_Of course not honey," Ai Lian answered, finishing her task. "Now, eat up, before it gets cold." _

_Meilin stared at the tray of food as if she had never seen it before. It was the normal stuff she always eats, rice, soup, roasted duck and some rolls, but something about it was just odd. She glanced up at the door and saw two guards flanking the entrance. But they were inside the room, not outside in the hall like they usually were. She tugged at her mother's sleeve hoping she knew. _

"_Mommy, why aren't we eating in the dining room?" _

_Just like before, she saw her mother's gentle face, harden into bitterness. She grabbed a nearby teapot and poured herself a cup before answering. _

"_Your father doesn't want to see us for a while," she said simply. _

_Meilin's face dropped. "Oh..." Her father's earlier words ran in her ears. Suddenly all the color seemed to drain from the room. Her insides twisted and mashed together inch by inch with every word she remembered. Defect. Not his daughter. She'll never be. The burning sensation of tears forced her eyes closed. Her mother arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a tight hug. Meilin buried her face in Ai Lian's chest and allowed the tears to fall. _

"_Why...does he hate me mommy?" she hiccuped. "Why, don't I have magic? Why am I so different?" _

"_I don't know, Meilin-chan," Ai Lian answered truthfully, her voice cracking as well. "I truly don't know. But it's ok to be different." She eased Meilin into her gaze and offered her a genuine smile. "Sometimes that's all the magic you need." She pulled out a handkerchief wiped Meiln's face. "Here I'll show you." _

_Meilin couldn't help but wonder what her mother meant. Of course she needed magic! Everyone else in the family had magic, so shouldn't she? What was wrong with her? There had to be a way to fix it. Once she got magic, she'd show father that she wasn't a defect, she would do things that not even he could do, then he would love her like mommy did. And then Syaoran would notice her too. She had to get magic, she just had to. _

"_Here we are," Ai Lian said, bringing Meilin out of her dream for the second time that night. They stood on a balcony overlooking a section of the vast Li clan garden. This section was a large field of red flowers with a magically made lake adjacent. Small lanterns cast a clear yellow light over the garden, giving Meilin a full view of the field of red. Ai Lian looked from the field to Meilin as if it explained everything, but Meilin could only lean against the railing and stare at the flowers, expecting one of them to move. _

"_Do you know what kind of flowers those red ones are?" _

"_Aren't they roses?" They were red, so of course they had to be roses. _

"_No honey, they're called oleanders," Ai Lian corrected. "Do you know what's so special about them?" _

_Meilin peaked down at the red flowers again. She had seen them on the windowsills and on the tables around the compound. The few times mommy had meetings with Aunite Yelan, she always saw a bouquet set up on the table. But other than their nice looks, she had never heard anyone say anything special about them. But mommy wanted some kind of answer, so Meilin stared at the flowers hoping one of them would pop up and tell her the answer her mother wanted. But in the end nothing came to her. She could only shake her head. Ai Lian just smiled at her. _

"_People believe that if you smell or eat enough of them you can gain or increase magical abilities. That's why you see them everywhere." _

_Meilin's eyes lit up instantly. This was why they were here! This was her chance! She looked around the balcony for a way down, her stomach doing triple flips. She had never eaten a flower before, but if it would give her magic, she would eat a million of them. She was about to leap over the railing towards the flowers but a firm tug from Ai Lian stopped her. _

"_They're also very poisonous." _

_Meilin froze. _

"_Most people don't know this but oleanders are one of the most dangerous flowers you can have in a garden and one of the most toxic plants in the world. They may look inviting and smell heavenly but it can still kill you." _

_Meilin glanced down at the flowers once more, taking in her mother's words._

"_But if you look closer, you'll a small white flower in between the oleanders." _

_Meilin followed her mother's gaze and saw it. It was __bell shaped with petals circling around the bright green stigma. It was a flower she had never really seen. From the balcony it didn't look like much. It was less than half the height of the oleanders and grouped in such a way that it was easy to look over it. Why was this flower so important? _

"_It's called the White Jade," her mother said, as if reading her mind. "It's a rare kind of flower. When prepared correctly, it can counteract the poison of just about any plant, including the oleander. But many people overlook it because of its rather plain appearance." _

"_I don't get it." _

_Ai Lian lowered herself to Meilin's eye level. "You are just like the White Jade, Meilin-chan," she said speaking plain. "It might be rare for someone of the Li clan be born without magic and because of that people, like your father, will give you grief for it and overlook you. Or call you useless, but __**never **__believe them. There are still things that only you can do that no one else can. You're free of the poison that runs through people's veins when they have magic. You're freer in more ways than you know Meilin-chan. Do you understand now?" _

_Meilin could only stare back. Ai Lian kissed her forehead when Meilin offered no answer. _

"_You'll understand someday. I promise." _

"_Lady Ai Lian," Wei called from behind them. "Forgive my interruption, but your husband would like to see you in his chambers." _

_Ai Lian sighed and rose to meet Wei. "Go back to your room and finish your dinner Meilin-chan. I'll be there to tuck you in bed in a little while." _

"_But mommy…." _

"_Just go honey," she said, gently pushing Meilin towards Wei. "Everything's going to be all right." _

"_Yes mommy." _

"_Wei, make sure she makes it back to the room and she stays there." _

"_Yes milady."_

_And with that she disappeared down the corridor. _

_Meilin wasn't sure how long she alone in her mother's room before Wei told her it was time for bed. She had been picking at her food, waiting for whatever meeting father wanted mommy for to be over so she wouldn't eat alone. Wei had stood by the doorway watching her, making her feel uneasy. The other guards had gone with her mother to meet father. The old man had smiled at her and encouraged her to eat, but without her mother, Meilin wasn't hungry. _

"_When's mommy coming back?" she had asked for the eighth time. _

_Wei had smiled at her and replied with his same answer. "I'm sure your mother will return soon. Now please eat." _

_In the end Wei must have given up because not soon after he signaled for the servants to clear her tray. The old man had offered to tuck her in but she refused that too. Mommy would come any minute now with her traditional story and goodnight kiss. _

"_She'll come..." Meilin muttered to herself, sleep overcoming her. "She'll come..." _

_When Meilin opened her eyes again the door to her room almost flew off its hinges. Candle light from the corridor poured into her dark room. Before she could even sit up, her mother swept her up in a tight embrace. _

"_Meilin-chan!" her hoarse voice whispered out. "You're safe. I'm so glad...so glad..." _

_Meilin managed to wiggle out of Ai Lian's grip and take a look at her mother. Her usual tidy and kept ponytail was falling out of place, dried tear marks stained her smooth face. The rich silk robe she wore was torn in several places, particularly around the bottom hem, sleeves and chest. Dark blue bruises decorated her upper arm while some blood trickled down the corners of her mouth. Her ruby eyes were as wide as melons and seemed to be stuck in that position. On Meilin's shoulders her mother's hands wouldn't stop shaking. _

"_Mommy...?" Meilin started, not sure the disheveled woman before her was her mother. "What's..." _

_Ai Lian clamped her hand down on her mouth. "Shh!" she hissed suddenly. Ai Lian looked over her shoulders like a stalked animal. "Don't ask questions," she whispered hurriedly. "I'm increasing your fighting lessons with Wei and the other teachers. You need to stay safe Meilin-chan, that's all that matters to me. Do you understand?" _

_Before she could answer, her mother rushed out of the room as if she were late for something. Before her mother closed Meilin's door, she saw Wei and a strange red-headed priestess waiting for Ai Lian at the end of hall. As the door closed she saw the priestess look her way and smile. _

_She had no idea how much things were going to change. _

_OOOOO_

Kaho let out a tired grunt as she dragged Lu Tsung unconscious body through the forest. Or what was left of it after their battle. From the fallen trees, small fires, craters, and fissures on the ground, the forest looked as though a meteor had struck. But she couldn't worry about that now. She knew what she had to do. It was probably underhanded of her, but it was part of her duty.

She sat the wicked uncle against a tree, while she caught her breath. Her body has yet to recover from all the heavy hits from his attacks. If her body was normal, the cut across her stomach would have been infected by now, she would probably have a major concussion and several bones would broken or dislocated from Lu Tsung shoulder charge.

Good thing she wasn't normal then, she thought with a smile. She plopped herself against a tree and allowed her healing spell to do its work. She could already feel her stamina returning. She would need it. After this ordeal she would have to travel north to confirm the rumored sighting of a lost ally. His part in the game was still a ways off, but her mistress was always one for planning ahead. But still, not even her mistress could plan for everything, she thought as she looked at Lu Tsung.

His arrival on the game board had been unexpected. Lu Tsung had never cared about the Seven Deadly Jewels, so both she and her mistress had written him out of their plans. Obviously that was a mistake. But Wei had assured them that his influence over Meilin would not be an issue. Kaho shook her head. How blind they had been. And because that blindness everything was almost destroyed. Sakura-chan and the others wouldn't have stood a chance without her intervention. As strong as the kids were Lu Tsung and the enemies that would come afterwards were just in a class of their own. A class the kids weren't ready for yet. But after this battle, they no longer had a choice.

The enemy was moving. Recruiting Jin Shu and Lu Tsung was evidence of that. They were getting desperate and will begin to use more serious maneuvers. She wouldn't be surprised if another one of Meilin's siblings made an appearance sometime soon. Another group of enemies they weren't ready for. Her eyes fell to Lu Tsung once again. Her hand was being forced.

She closed her eyes and sought out the auras of the kids. Good, they weren't too far ahead. They were weakened though. But they had enough willpower to fight. At least she hoped so. Not too far off, she felt the aura of her mistress. She flinched when she felt it. From behind her eyelids she could already she her mistress's piercing crimson eyes looking straight at her. She saw her knowing smirk telling Kaho that she already knew of everything that had happened today, and how Kaho had broken one of their most important rules.

But why would she be here? Surely the situation wasn't that serious. Everything was under control. Or maybe the mistress had felt her doubt and was here to make sure she did her duty. Kaho sighed. There was no escaping it. She only hoped Sakura and the others could make it out of this one and they would find it in their hearts to forgive her.

A bright green aura flared around her hands as she started the healing spell.

She took a breath and said a prayer to whatever god was listening.

And placed her hands on Lu Tsung.

OOOOOO

"How long has it been?" Kero groaned in his borrowed form, a makeshift bandage wrapped around his midsection.

"Only about thirty minutes," Eriol replied as he eased Tomoyo into a sitting position. With his powers still on the fritz, he had to work on his injured friends the old fashioned way. A small bowl of ointment made from the plants around them was at his feet. "Now take slow breaths Tomoyo-san."

"I…I'll…try…" Tomoyo replied, it was a painful chore to say even that.

"We've sitting here for thirty damn minutes, waiting this brat to get her act together!" the beast exclaimed.

"Kero-chan!" Sakura hissed, expecting some rebuttal from Li, but the swordsman was quiet. He sat as still as front in front of Meilin. His broken arm was in makeshift sling and his sword was at his feet. He hadn't said much since Sakura had used the FLOWER card and became as she was now. Sakura wanted to console him somehow, but she wasn't sure what to say. Not even she was sure what the card did to Meilin or how long it would last or how it would affect when she came out of it. If she ever came out of it.

"Worried about Syaoran?" Eriol asked from over his shoulder.

Sakura jumped at his sudden voice. "Yeah," she said when she recovered. "He's been sitting there for a while now. I just want to make sure he's ok." She glanced at him over her shoulder before adding, "He always seems to get really upset whenever Meilin-chan gets seriously hurt."

Eriol wrapped another one of his makeshift bandages around Tomoyo's wounded ribs. "That's understandable. When she first came to us, Wei told him to always protect her. And I guess whenever something happens to her; he sees it as a failing on his part."

"I see…." She muttered. "This must be really hard for him then."

"He….isn't….the only one…." Tomoyo said between breaths, looking at Eriol. The doctor returned her look with a soft smile, finishing up her bandage.

"There's has to be something we can do," Sakura said.

"You're welcome to try," Kero put in. "I'd stay away from the kid when he's in one of these moods."

She sighed and made her way towards him. It was worth a try. She still had no idea what say to him. She would just have to wing it.

"What is it?" he asked without turning around.

"Um….are you hungry? I'm sure Eriol-kun and I can whip up something. It shouldn't be too hard!" she exclaimed with a forced smile.

"No….thanks," he said simply, keeping his eyes on Meilin.

"Then….how about we…..go for a walk?" she said, grasping at straws. "Your legs must be getting cramped sitting there all this time."

"I'm fine."

"Uh…we can….uh…."

"Sakura," he cut in calmly but still with a noticeable edge. "I'm fine. Just help Eriol with Tomoyo."

No, he wasn't, she thought. She stayed where she was, not sure what more she could do. He sat with his shoulders hunched, his voice ragged as if it had lost its usual fire. As she stared at him, she felt the same as did when Kimiko died. Something compelled her to take a step forward and another until she was inches behind him. He heard him say not to worry about him or something like that, but that same urge made her throw her arms over him and press her head against his. She felt his breath stop and his heart skip a beat for a brief second. He tried to turn his head to get a look at her but couldn't get a good angle. He jerked his body slightly as if trying to escape, but Sakura only held on tighter hoping to somehow transfer all her sympathy and hope into his brooding body.

"It's wasn't your fault," she whispered.

He didn't say anything but his jerking stopped and his hand met hers, more or less returning the backwards embrace.

"Thanks…." He said finally.

"Should we interrupt them?" Eriol said with a chuckle.

Tomoyo, who found talking a painful chore with her broken ribs, could only smile and shake her head.

"How sentimental…." An all too familiar voice said from the trees. Before any of them could react, a blast of fire shot towards the injured group. Li grabbed Sakura and Meilin and leapt out of the way. Eriol picked up Tomoyo bridal style and jumped out of the fire's path.

"What the hell!" Kero exclaimed.

"How nice to see you kids again," Lu Tsung said as he jumped down in front of the group.

"But I thought Ms. Mizuki fought him!" Sakura said in disbelief, her staff already formed.

"She did," Li said, drawing his sword. "He should be six feet under by now."

"Or worse knowing Mizuki," Eriol said, setting Tomoyo down against a tree.

"I got better," Lu Tsung shrugged. "But you kids are in luck. I have no reason to fight you, I just want my little weapon back."

"You're not taking her anywhere!" Li snapped, his aura, though weakened, flaring up.

"You'll have to go through us!" Sakura declared.

The wicked uncle just shrugged. "That can be arranged."

Li gritted his teeth. This was really bad. None of them were in any condition to fight. Eriol's magic was still acting up, Daidouji's broken ribs made even breathing and talking a difficult matter, let alone fighting. Plus she didn't have the training it took to fight with an injury like that. His arm would lower his sword swing to less than half and he was sure his lightning attacks were weakened too. The stuffed animal back was almost broken in two, so he would be no help either. The only one left was Sakura and with Lu Tsung's ability, having Sakura fight him was just too much of a risk. If she transformed into that older self of hers, it would only make Lu Tsung more powerful.

He closed his eyes, trying to find Kaho's aura but to no avail. Perfect. But from what he could see from Lu Tsung and from what he felt from his aura, he wasn't at one hundred percent either. From the bruises across his face, labored breathing and various cuts, Lu Tsung looked like he was only at forty percent. Maybe lower. Did that mean they had a chance? Nothing would make him happier than running that bastard into the ground for what he did to Meilin. But his instincts told him otherwise. Even with only thirty percent of his power, Lu Tsung still knew enough techniques to take them all out with a single blow.

"What's wrong kids?" the uncle asked as he walked towards them. "Having second thoughts?"

If they could remove his eyes from the equation, they would have a chance. He glanced over to Sakura. "Sakura, when I attack, I want you to kick up the biggest dust storm you can ok? Can you do that?"

"Yes."

"Once the dust kicks up, I need the stuffed animal to attack from behind. Your strongest blast you got it?"

"Of course! Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Eriol, take Meilin and Daidouji and get out of here. You're magic is still messed up, I'm not sure how much help you'll be."

Eriol nodded without any argument.

Li shifted into a stance. It wasn't much, but it was better than just letting the bastard pass and take Meilin. He inched himself forward and took once last glance at Meilin before charging forward.

His sword came down with a mighty yell. But before Syaoran knew it, Lu Tsung's entire body became incased in metal. His sword bounced off the wall of steel like a ball. A fast backhand from the uncle sent Li flying to the left.

"Take this!" Sakura exclaimed and struck the ground with her staff. A large cloud of dust kicked up over the combatants, giving Kero the signal. The transformed beast flew as fast as he could with a injured back. He was in position when he saw Lu Tsung slam his hands together creating a great shockwave that blew back the dust cloud with ease. The uncle whirled around and socked Kero in between the eyes with a solid left hook.

A loud yell from Sakura gave Lu Tsung time to dodge her staff. The girl spun on the balls of her feet turning her staff into a horizontal swing, But like Li's sword, her attack just bounced off his armor. A palm strike to her face was all it took to bring her down.

"Element lightning!" Li shouted. The blast slammed into the uncle head on. The attack brought him to a knee but the moment it subsided, he was nose to nose with Li.

"That all you got, Syaoran?" Li's sword came up, only to be caught by the uncle. A sharp yank brought Li into four metal slaps across his face before Lu Tsung slammed him into the ground. His finger wrapped around the young man's neck and pulled him to Lu Tsung's eye level.

"It seems you need a lesson in humility boy."

OOOOO

"_You want to say that to me again!" A six-year old Meilin exclaimed. Before the eight year old boy could respond, Meilin drove her fist into his nose. The boy dropped to the mat in tears, his blood already dripping down to his white practice uniform. His loud wails seemed to over power the chuckles coming from the onlooking students. _

"_Master Shen," Wei sighed as he rose from the front of the practice hall. "Calling your sparring partner a' stupid girl' is far from the proper way to thank them. Especially when they take the time to help you improve." _

_The old master pulled out a handkerchief and began to wipe down the blood from his nose. "And Lady Meilin, attacking your sparring partner at the end of a session over such a minor insult is very dishonorable." _

"_You heard what he called me!" she snapped, her eyes looking past Wei and glaring holes into Shen. _

_Wei just shook his head. "You mustn't give into your anger so easily. It will get you into trouble." Another sigh crossed his lips before he dismissed his young students for the day. _

_The other kids rushed outside to their waiting parents or the servants sent by their parents. Meilin lingered on the tatami mat. In the year after that strange meeting, Ai Lian had moved Meilin into the main house of the Li compound, while she stayed in the branch house. Meilin had protested of course but her mother promised it wouldn't be a major move and that she would always come by to visit Meilin. She had yet to deliver on either promise. Almost the very second she had moved into the main house, rude stares from the grown-ups followed her every step. None of the kids wanted to play with her either, their parents told them not to, was always the excuse. Most days she just spent in her room playing with old toys, and her only company being the three servants assigned to her and Wei when he had time. _

_She had hoped she would at least see Syaoran more often but was proven wrong within the first week. He always had some kind of studying or lesson to do, which took anywhere and everywhere it seemed like. Auntie Yelan who mother promised would look after her, was the same as her father. Cold, distant and looked at her with the same disdain as everyone else. Why? She didn't do anything to them. Why were they so mean? Where was mommy, she had asked herself every night before bed. Since the move, Ai Lian had yet to visit. Not even for her birthday. Wei was kind enough to give her a candy tart and a new belt for her practice uniform but that was it. She had cried that night and every night since. _

_Things were improving, however, no matter how slow or small. She had found her place in the martial arts. With no one paying her any mind and nothing else to do, she had thrown herself into the combat arts. If she wasn't eating, or sleeping, she was in the practice hall going over every punch, kick, step and stance Wei or the other teachers had gone over. Her devotion had given her an understanding years ahead of her peers. Her punches and kicks flowed out of her as if they were dance steps. She had yet to be defeated in sparring. And finally, like with Shen, if anyone was mean to her, she could be mean to them back. But she wanted more. She wanted mommy. _

_She walked outside and found herself standing in front of the small pond in the back of grounds. A grassy hill with ill-kept flowers flanked the pond with a wooden swing set that had been installed and long forgotten. Meilin plopped down on the swing, her typical spot, and stared at the still water. How long was it going to be this way? When could she go home? A dark cloud cast a long shadow on the world. She glanced up and saw even more clouds on the horizon. She lowered her head. Just what she needed, a rainy evening. _

"_There she is!" a young voice exclaimed. _

_Meilin looked up and saw five boys blocking her view of the green pond. Four of them were twelve-year-olds from Wei's intermediate class. All four of them sported to the same bowl cut style for their black hair. They were tall and lanky but she had seen that all four them could punch well enough. To her dull surprise, Shen stood in the center, a bandage already applied to his broken nose. _

"_Go away," she said simply. _

_The boys looked at her with knowing smiles. Shen stepped forward but was still out of her reach. _

"_What's wrong, Meilin-chan?" he chuckled. "Not so tough when its more than one person?" _

_Meilin twitched. Only mommy could call her that. _

"_Are you scared that a stupid girl like you can't beat us with that old man?" the boy on the right laughed, his buck teeth protruding from his mouth. _

_She twitched again. _

"_I hear her own father thinks she's useless," the boy next to Buckteeth laughed, freckles dotting every once of his face. _

_Meilin's grip on the swing tightened. _

"_I heard she's only Li to be born without magic in the last four hundred years!" another laughed. This one's long ears reminded her of an elf. _

_Another round of laughter _

_She lowered her head. _

_The last one, a boy already developing, what she heard people call pimples, just shoved her off the swing. _

_She got up, dusted off her uniform and pounced at them. _

_Their screams of pain slaughtered the peace of the pond. _

_It took less than a minute for the boys to be either knocked out, crying, nursing broken bones or a mixture of the three. She grabbed Shen by his collar, four broken fingers accompanied his nose. The boy only cried harder when she slammed him against a tree and raised her fist. _

"_One: Don't __**ever**__ call me 'Meilin-chan' again," she growled. "And two: if you bother me again..." She let her fist fly and collide into the tree bark, leaving a sizable hole. Shen slid to ground, his pants soiled. She glared at the recovering boys, making them roll down the hill in their rush to escape her. She grabbed Shen again and hurled him at his friends. _

"_An excellent showing little one," a deep and smooth voice said from behind her. Meilin jumped back, expecting another troublemaker. _

"_Don't be so alarmed," the man said. Like many Li clan men he was tall and broad. He had shoulder length black hair, cold black eyes, and his hands the held many expensive rings. The thick black animal fur on his shoulders and his black silk kimono hid a good portion of his bulk. Meilin coughed when she breathed in the dark smoke from the large cigar that was placed between his lips. _

"_Who are you?" _

_The man just smiled. "I'm your Uncle Lu Tsung. And I like what I saw." _

_Her face brightened. Her suspicions instantly defeated after six words of compliment. _

_Lu Tsung lowered himself to her eye level and ran his hands along her arms. "To find someone so young and skilled here of all places. It's like finding a great sword in the middle of the desert." _

"_Really?"_

_He circled her now, like a vulture eying meat. "You could use some work of course, what weapon doesn't? But I can make you stronger. So strong that even your father with take notice." _

_A full smile crossed Meilin's lips, the first in the longest time. She looked into his bright eyes and his full white teeth and felt so at ease. He had faith in her. He believed in her. He could make her stronger. So strong that father would finally look at her with pride. She took a step towards him. _

"_**Get away from my daughter**__." _

_At that moment, the grass around Lu Tsung sprang to life. They morphed into four thick green tendrils that wrapped around the uncle's limbs before Meilin could even blink. A gesture from Ai Lian caused two more of the green tentacles emerge from the ground and warp around him._

"_Always nice to see you, Ai Lian," Lu Tsung said, his voice casual despite the bindings. "I gotta say though, you've looked better."_

_Lu Tsung had a point, Meilin thought as she looked at her mother. Ai Lian's skin was a deathly pale, compared to the light tan she had from her hours in the gardens. The regal ponytail that had held up her hair was long gone. Her hair tumbled down to the center of her back in an untidy bundle filled with tangles and loose strands. Bags were engraved deep under her eyes while her eyelids struggled to stay open. She wore a plain white garment with no ensigns of her status or rank. Dried ink stained her fingers while several small cuts ran up and down her arm. Meilin took a step forward. Even with her unkempt looks, that was still her mother. _

"_M-Mommy...?" she attempted. _

"_Come here, Meilin," she said, her tone leaving no room for argument. Her eyes never left Lu Tsung. _

"_Yes, little Meilin, go to her," Lu Tsung chuckled. "But I hope you're prepared to live a life of constant disapproval and scorn. Your dear mommy over there, won't make you any stronger..." Another tendril sprang from the earth and wrapped around his throat. _

"_Be silent," she growled. She turned to Meilin and lightened her tone. "Meilin-chan, that man is dangerous. Please come here." _

_Meilin met her mother's eyes and felt that same warmth and calm from a year ago spread over her. She ran over to Ai Lian without a second thought. She wrapped her arms around her mother's thinned waist and buried herself in her stomach, the tears already coming down. Ai Lian returned the embrace and released her magic, making Lu Tsung drop. _

"_Is there no level you won't sink?" she asked, the edge in her voice returning. _

_Lu Tsung dusted off his fur and robes. "What's the matter Ai? A man can't say hello to his niece?"_

_Ai Lian eased Meilin behind her, while shooting him a glare. "When that man is you, then no. What are you even doing on the grounds? Last I checked you were banished from the compound and this clan." _

_Lu Tsung shrugged. "My brother, your husband invited me. He wants to hear a proposition I have for him." _

"_What kind of proposition?" _

_He grinned. "Classified." _

"_What are you doing here then?" she asked, her magic already flaring up. "You're nowhere close to that man's main quarters." _

"_Like I said, I was just saying hi to my little niece." _

"_Then you have no reason to linger." _

_Lu Tsung eyed the two of them before inhaling some of his cigar. "I suppose I don't." He peaked over Ai Lian's shoulder. "It was nice meeting you little one. We'll meet again soon." _

_Meilin tried to wave at the nice man, but her mother stopped her. _

_Ai Lian's eyes never left Lu Tsung as he disappeared down the hill. It was only when he was gone did release the breath she had been holding. "Stay away from that man Meilin-chan," she said sternly. _

"_I've missed you, mommy," she whispered into Ai Lian's tear stained robe. As she inhaled the gentle scent that came off her mother, the wall she had build around herself came down. Her mouth flew open and her long unasked questions flew out her mouth like vomit. "Where did you go? Why didn't ever come for me? Why do I have to be here?" _

"_Shhhh, it's all right now," Ai Lian whispered. "I'll tell you everything Meilin-chan after you pack a bag." _

"_Are we going home?" she asked, her voice filled with hope. _

_The sound of thunder echoed through the sky as Ai Lian gave her an uneasy smile. _

"_No, we're leaving the compound to meet a new friend." _

"_Eh...?" _

_Small droplets of rain began to fall, coxing Ai Lian to pick up her daughter and race down the hill. "I will explain later. We just need to go, and now." _

_By the time they returned to her room, packed a bag and her mother changed her into a pink floral Chinese -style dress, the rain had begun full force. The streets of the compound was completely clear making the first leg of their escape simple enough. With hoods covering their detailed features, Ai Lian made a full sprint towards the south wall. Puddles splashed against her exposed shins while her arms held Meilin close to her chest. _

_In a single leap, Ai Lian cleared the wall. She landed with ease on the rain soaked road and sprinted down the east path. Meilin could hear her mother's heart pound against her ear. As she ran, Ai Lian kept glancing over her shoulder, why Meilin couldn't guess. The roads were deserted and the heavy rain made it impossible to spot anyone clearly. _

"_Mommy..." she started. _

_Ai Lian flinched as if she had come out of trance. She shook her head and looked down at Meilin with a smile. She placed a finger on Meilin's forehead. _

"_I need you to sleep now Meilin-chan." _

_A warmth spread through her body and before she knew it sleep overtook her. She wasn't sure how long she had been sleeping for or how long they had been running or how far they were from the compound or even if they were even close to their destination. All she knew was, she woke up to screaming. _

_She opened her eyes and saw only red. _

_Rain poured on the earth at the constant rhythm with thunder booming, and lighting lacing across the sky. Thick droplets of rain pounded on the ground making advisability all but impossible. Rain flooded the gutter ways with the water rising over the walkway. Lighting flashed, lighting the sky revealing Meilin kneeling before her mother's fallen figure. __Her once beautiful pink floral Chinese-styled dress was covered with mud, and torn at the sleeves and skirt. Her soaked hair clinging to her body with what was left of her affluent hair ribbons near her knees torn off. Tears flowed down the girl's cheeks as her eyes fixated on the fallen figure her. _

"_M-M-mommy...!" she cried. Her voice echoing against the high walls of the alley, and overpowering the roar of the rain. She shook her again, crying harder with each shake. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Wake up! Please wake up..."_

"_How sad a little girl without a mother," a familiar deep voice said from behind the little girl. She whirled around and saw her uncle. The little girl froze in fear as the man walked closer to her. _

"_St-stay back!" she cried. "St-stay away! Mommy! Mommy!" The man shook his head, and extended his thick hand with rich sliver and diamond rings on at least three of his fingers. _

"_Your mother's gone little Meilin. But if you come with me, I'll make sure you're never alone again." _

_Meilin froze as her eyes laid on the extended hand. The rain drumming in her ears, the mud and puddles soaking through her dress and into her skin, and her mother's body just inches away from her. The little girl shivered as fresh tears began to roll down her cheeks. Lighting flashed across the sky as Meilin's little hand met his. The man grinned revealing his white teeth, putting Meilin at ease. _

_"Don't worry. If you stick with me I'll make you the sharpest sword in the bunch." _

"_Wait..." she muttered. _

_She ran back to Ai Lian's fallen body and closed her eyes, turning her shocked expression of cold death into a peaceful sleep. Tears poured down Meilin's face as she kissed her mother one last time. _

"_Good night, mommy." _

OOOOOO

Meilin inhaled sharply as recognition flooded back to her. She stared at her hands as if she had seen them for the first time. A quick look around told her she was still in the forest. Someone had propped her against a tree. A soft grunt of pain reached her ears. She was on her feet instantly, satisfied that her body was her own once again.

"M-M-Meilin-chan!" Tomoyo's voice came in careful breaths. Meilin cringed, not wanting to see the state of the dark-haired girl. "I...I'm...glad...you're...all right..."

Now she had to look at her. Tomoyo had been sitting next to her, a bandage wrapped around her torso with various cuts and bruises around her body. A strained smile crossed Tomoyo's lips but it didn't last long as a yelp of pain overtook her.

"Daidouji-san..." Meilin muttered. "Did I...?" She couldn't even finish. She didn't need to. The look on Tomoyo's face, the look of a scared victim, told her everything she needed to know.

"Meilin!" Eriol shouted from the bushes. He hobbled his way over to her on his fractured leg. "Thank goodness you're all right! You really had us worried there!"

"Your leg," she said simply.

"Oh this?" he chuckled. "It's nothing. It should heal on its own."

"Where's Syaoran and Kinomoto-san?" she asked, her voice a dead whisper.

"Fighting Lu Tsung, but I can feel their auras...it's...not going well...They're too injured."

"Because of me," she whispered.

"Meilin…."

"Don't," she said. She stared at her hands, the hands that almost killed her friends. It was her fault, all of it. She wanted to blame Lu Tsung so much, but she couldn't. She had chosen this; she was the one who turned her back on her friends, and for what? If she hadn't been so reckless, so insecure in her own abilities, none of this would have happened. At that realization, a fire sparked in herself, something so far beyond just anger and rage. Her expression became as still stone and when she spoke, it was devoid of any passion.

"Stay here."

"Meilin..." Eriol tried again.

"I said stay here..." she repeated. "I'm finishing this."

Without another word she dashed off into the woods.

Just like when her mother was killed, all she could see was red.

OOOOOO

Another punch from Lu Tsung struck Li, breaking another rib. The uncle grabbed him by his collar and rammed him through three trees before hurling him into the ground. A blast of fire from Keroberos averted his attention. He flared up his metal armor, allowing the fire to strike without so much as a minor burn mark. Before the beast could attack again, he stretched out his right arm, clearing several yards, and hammered a fist into Kero's torso, send him flying back. The girl, Kinomoto, rushed towards him. He smirked and struck the ground with his foot, causing fissure to snake across the ground. She leaped over the attack and activated some tree spirit from a card. The branches of the trees came to life and wrapped around him, in a vein similar to Ai Lian. A childish trick. A flick of his wrist formed a fire ball in his hands that burned away his bindings instantly. Desperate, the girl made a foolish charge with her staff. A ram of his metal shoulder was all it took to bring her down.

Blood flew out of his mouth as Li coughed out what seemed to be his last breaths. This was insane. He was just too strong. Even with his metallic armor, he was somehow unaffected by Li's lightning attacks. And that armor also made him all but immune to attacks from his sword and fist. How? How could they win? Li struggled to get to his feet, but every bone and muscle in his body told him that was a terrible idea. He gritted his teeth and rose regardless, earning him Lu Tsung's attention. Li raised his sword ready face whatever was coming to him.

Lu Tsung charged, Li followed suit. Metallic arms shot at him, a turn on his heel and a quick duck saved him from further injury. Li's sword struck, but just as before, it merely bounced off against Lu Tsung's armor. Another hard metal punch, brought Li to the once more. As he tried to get up, Lu Tsung's foot push him back down.

"This is where you belong, Syaoran," he said adding more pressure to the young man's chest. "Under my heel."

"Let him go uncle." An eerily calm voice said.

"M-Meilin-chan..." Sakura managed to whisper.

Lu Tsung kicked Li against a tree before turning to the newcomer with a smile. "Well look who decided to come back to her loving uncle!"

"Save it," Meilin replied. Her arms folded and her face a strange calm that Li had never seen from her. "Do you have any idea what you did to me?"

Her uncle shrugged. "I merely gave you everything you ever wanted. Power, recognition, love. I can still give you those things. Just finish off Syaoran."

Meilin unfolded her arms and cracked her knuckles. "No."

Lu Tsung laughed, seeing her intent. "You wish to fight me? What chance do you have? You and your friends are nothing but play things to me! What makes you think this outcome will be any different, Meilin-chan? What can you possibly do to me that no one else can?"

"You're right. I can't do much of anything." she said, lowering her head. "I can't sense auras, I can't see ghosts, I can't shoot fire out of my hands, I can't summon spirits, and I can't even lift things with my mind. I'm all but worthless to my clan, my friends and Syaoran. And for the longest time, I thought there was something wrong with me. Why was I born without magic in a world filled with it? Why could I only watch as the people around me could do all these amazing things, when all I could do was punch and kick?

"My mother told me that I was like a White Jade in a field of Oleanders and that there were things that I could do, that no else could. I didn't understand or believe her back then. I thought it was just something she said to make me feel better. Then when I met you uncle, I thought, if I went with you, uncle, you could unlock some hidden magic inside of me. Something great and incredible that would prove everyone wrong, and make my father finally see me as his daughter and not just a defect. What an incredible lie you told me. I wasted three years of my life as your attack dog. And I almost destroyed my friends over this stupid dream.

"But thanks to Kinomoto-san and her flower card, I think I understand what my mother was trying to tell me back then. I'm not a secret magician, there's no great power hidden inside of me that anyone can unlock. I'm not really anything special. I'm just...normal. In the end, I'm just a stubborn girl with fists."

She looked up, her eyes holding a strange glow to them, as if she had just reached the pinnacle of enlightenment.

"**But that's all I need to kill you**!"

Without another word Meilin charged. She cocked her arm back, readying a full power right hook haymaker. She could feel the fire in her chest boil over into her arm. Everything was going into this one punch. All her rage, sadness, and turmoil. Everything would be decided with this one punch. The world slowed almost to a complete halt as she neared her uncle. His metal armor covered every inch of his body. And like most armors, his head and chest would be the most protected. But there was still one spot where she could finish him. A place on the body where even the most advanced armors overlooked.

Meilin closed her eyes as she neared her nightmare. She was suddenly back in the alleyway, the rain pouring around her.

"Meilin-chan," she heard. There her mother stood, watching Meilin with the last smile she gave her daughter. A full grin crossed Meilin's lips.

"This one's for you, mom."

She let her punch fly.

Lu Tsung had put up no defense or even mounted any kind of attack against his niece. The power he had copied for Jin Shu, the power of metal, had ensured his victory. He had used it only a few times but all those battles had been successful. The armor withstood attacks from even the most powerful of fighters. What could one little girl do to him? What he didn't know was the armor stopped short in one particular area.

The throat.

Covering the throat with magic ran the risk of constricting the windpipe and causing suffocation. It was generally something most masters of metal had found a way around. Lu Tsung was no master. The target area was so small, only a precise arrow user or a expert swordsman could strike him there.

Or, just one stubborn, angry girl with fists.

Meilin's punch slammed into her uncle's throat with an impact that echoed across the forest. His Adam's Apple was crushed almost instantly. But Meilin followed through, driving her knuckles further into his windpipe. Blood filled the uncle's mouth gurgling his final breaths. His arms tried to fly up in some final technique, but the damage had been done. Meilin's face remained unchanged as she stared into his dying eyes.

"Goodbye, uncle."

With no further dramatics Lu Tsung fell, his armor crumbling to pieces.

A deadly silence passed through the forest. Li stared at Meilin up and down, not sure whether to be relived or on guard. He had never seen Meilin finish an enemy so quickly or so brutally. But if there was anyone who deserved such a fate was Lu Tsung. He took a step forward, his sword raised. Was still under Lu Tsung's influence? Did it just backfire on him? His step caught her attention. Ruby eyes met amber and for one agonizing second, neither of the moved. Meilin took a deep breath, before turning fully to Li.

"M-Meilin?"

"Meilin-chan!" Sakura said making her way towards them.

"Kinomoto-san…."

"Did we miss it?" Eriol called from the bushes, Tomoyo on his back.

"Yeah…" Kero said, powering down. "It was awesome!"

"Darn," he said in mock disappointment.

"Meilin-chan, are you all right?" Tomoyo asked.

Meilin had no idea what to say. She had betrayed them, almost killed them, and yet they were still sticking by her. They had been worried about her and put themselves on the line to save her. The tears began to well up in her eyes. There was really only one thing she could do. She fell to her knees and lowered her head.

"Everyone, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I put you through all of this! I'm sorry everything turned out this way! I'm…."

But she was cut off by Li wrapping his arms around her. Her heart raced as her cousin held her close to him as if she were a fragile piece of glass. "Shut up…." He muttered. "You're safe, that's all that matters."

"S-Syaoran?" she stuttered, her face turning red.

From behind, she felt Sakura's arms around her. "I'm so glad you're all right, Meilin-chan."

As Eriol, Tomoyo and Kero joined in, Meilin could feel the tears build up once more. She felt no shame shedding them however, because now she knew, this was where she belonged.

OOOOOOO

Kaho looked on at the scene with a smile. From a distance in the bushes she had watched the events unfold, tempted to jump in once more to save them. Thankfully that wasn't needed. She sighed, releasing the breath she had been holding the entire time. They weren't quite ready yet, but it was a step in the right direction.

"You took quite a risk there, Mizuki," a woman's smooth voice said from behind her.

Kaho turned to greet the newcomer. She was a tall woman with pale skin. Her crimson eyes stared at the priestess with their normal sly look, as if she knew what Kaho was about to say before she even said it. Part of her absurdly long ebony hair was tied in a top knot with rest flowing down past her back. Kaho had always wondered how she managed with such hair. Her mistress had more outfits than a high ranking lord, making it hard to keep track of which one she would wear next. Today she wore her black gown with a crescent moon necklace. She took a whiff of her ever present pipe before speaking again.

"Has this little incident changed anything?"

Kaho shook her head. "Nothing significant. However, Meilin's growth is a step in the right direction. "

"I see." Her mistress stood next to her, watching the group with interested eyes. Her eyes soon fell on Sakura. "So that's Nadeshiko daughter? She's so...so..._**cute**_!"

Kaho nearly fell over. "There's no denying that," she said, struggling to keep a straight face.

"The same demeanor, the same aura, that same constant smile, if her hair were longer and purple, she'd be the exact copy of her mother."

Kaho sighed. "Let's hope not in every way."

"If everything goes well, she won't."

"How do I proceed from here?"

"Throw the kids a bone," her mistress said. "They deserve to know at least a part of the bigger picture."

"Shall I mention you to Sakura-chan?"

"No, not yet. But soon enough she will."

The black clad woman put out her pipe before walking towards the bushes.

"Always nice chatting with you Kaho," she said over her shoulder. "Keep up the good work."

Kaho bowed in farewell. "Thank you, Lady Yuuko Ichihara."

AN: WHEW! So how do you cap off the longest arc in this story so far? With the longest chapter so far of course! I can't even begin to tell you guys the work I put into this chapter. Meilin's flashback became more and more complex. Pretty soon it almost overtook the entire chapter and it looked like I would need a second one to cover everything and since I said this chapter would finish off the season, that wasn't gonna happen. So I had to trim and gloss over a few things. I really grew to love Ai Lian, so much so I really didn't want to kill her. But it had to be done, otherwise nothing would make sense. Meilin's final confrontation with Lu Tsung was also a major block. Originally she was just going to charge in, fury risen to maximum and just wail on him for a few paragraphs but that just felt so...hollow to me. Especially because after all this it would seem that Meilin didn't learn anything or develop as a character. So I had to change it and greatly shorten the fight. She was also going to unlock some hidden ability during the fight, but that felt like an ass-pull and seemed to undermine her whole character. So that was dropped. If anything the final product is more Meilin conquering herself and her insecurities than just her uncle, which feels more fitting. And before you ask, yes that is the same Yuuko from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles and xxxHolic. What does she have to do with the plot? Who knows? I do but I'm not telling (evil laugh). Will other Tsubasa/xxxHolic characters show up? Maybe. Other CLAMP characters? Eh...not so much.

**Announcements: **I now have a Twitter account (yay...?). Follow me Gammer_375, where I can keep you guys updated on the status of the next chapter(so you won't have to wonder at the end of every chapter), any upcoming fics or story ideas I have and link you to special sneak peaks of the new chapter, on my LiveJournal.

On my LiveJournal I'm also thinking about making a guide for this story, because let's face it 80 chapters of continuity is a lot to keep up with (hell I even get a headache trying to keep everything straight). It'll be simple just a list of major events from each chapter, a status sheet for our heroes and who knows what else. So if you want to help with that at all send me a message.

Whew...that was a lot.

If you've stuck around for this long, thank you. Here's a preview for season 3! See you all soon!

_Sakura: While we recover from our ordeal with Lu Tsung, Ms. Mizuki comes to visit. She says there are things we need to know if we wish to move further. I wonder what that means. _

_Kero: And to make things even stranger, we're suddenly the most wanted people in the country. What the hell is going on? _

_Tomoyo: So join us next time for "_The Imperial Enemy"_ I hope you join us. _


	81. The Imperial Enemy

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 81

Jin Shu knew he was finished. His metallic body was torn and useless. Syaoran's lightning had done its work. Not only had it paralyzed him but made it so that every time he twitched the lightning attack would rip through his body for a number of minutes, before settling down again. The metal in his body ensured that the lightning would not pass into the earth. It constantly found new paths within his body to move, shorting out nerve endings, organs, and brain functions. Jin Shu had lost all feeling from the waist down some time ago. The lightning was beginning to move up his arms based on the rising numbness in his fingers. It was only a matter of time before the electricity moved up to his brain and ended him. Or he could die of starvation. Or possibly fall victim to some hungry animal. Either way, the metal warrior knew his time was coming.

From the lack of aura's he could sense, Syaoran and his little friends defeated Lu Tsung's enforcers and Meilin killed Lu Tsung herself. Jin Shu attempted a scoff only for a fresh jolt of electricity to surge. Lu Tsung's death mean only one thing,

He had failed in his mission.

And that damaged him more than any lightning.

The half-demon laid his head against the ground and could only wait for his ultimate fate.

"Enjoying the bitter taste of defeat brother?" a voice said from above.

Jin Shu scanned the area as best he could, but saw no one. Save for Qin Lei's bird companion. The moment Jin Shu met the bird's ruby eyes, he knew his visitor.

"Have you been here the entire time, Han?"

The bird squawked before leaping from its perch. A yellow aura enveloped the creature as feathers gave way to a tanned flesh, and the long yellow beak retracted into a rounded nose. The bird's wings shifted down to the forming shoulders to make two lanky arms. By the time the "bird" reached the ground a five foot young man with long white hair and lilac eyes stared down at Jin Shu. He was a slender figure, built more for speed than strength. His tanned arms passed over his green tunic smoothing out the creases. Han smiled at his weakened brother as he stooped to his eye level.

"Oh but of course," Han said with sly smile, his voice deep yet nasally. "Someone had to keep an eye on you."

"How long have you been Qin Lei's bird?"

Han shrugged. "I lost track, but I know that it'll take a while for me to get the taste of bird seed out of my mouth."

Jin Shu growled, causing yet another surge of electricity. "If you were here the entire time, why didn't you assist in the battle? Uncle was killed because you were too lazy to help!"

Han plopped himself down on a nearby stump. "You misunderstand my mission, brother. I was sent to observe, not to fight."

"Sent by whom?"

"By Father of course! Someone had to keep an eye on this investment of his."

"Well as you can see, thanks to Syaoran, this investment will gain Father nothing."

"Well….that remains to be seen," Han said simply.

"Explain yourself. Lu Tsung is dead, the Kamikaze necklace is back in that girl's hands and our sister is back with Syaoran. How is any of this beneficial to Father?"

Han shook his head. "Brother, brother, how short-sighted you are. Uncle is dead yes, but the men, resources and money he has gained over the years is not. They are ripe for Father's taking."

"I doubt Uncle's remaining men would take kindly to this sudden change," Jin Shu muttered.

Han just laughed. "Do you really think I've spent months as a damn bird because I liked it?"

"What?"

"As I said, my mission was to observe," Han said simply. "I watched every move, every gesture, every little mannerism Uncle had. I can imitate anything about him, his walk, his manner of speaking, even his handwriting."

Jin Shu's eyes widened in realization. "Making it easy for you to transform into Uncle and create a will giving everything to Father. Uncle's men would be unable to protest because it would directly from their master."

Han nodded with a smug smile. "Now you're getting it."

"Was this Father's plan the entire time?"

His brother shrugged as he twirled a blade of grass. "Hard to say. Father has always been an untapped mine of secrets. I'm sure there are many things he hasn't told any of us. All I know is that this job is complete."

"Finished? How will Father explain his death to Yelan and the members of the Council? Uncle used to be a member if I recall."

Han waved off Jin Shu's concern. "Father has that covered."

"Has it covered?"

"Think brother. Jin Shu was exiled from the Li clan, already making him probably the furthest thing from Yelan and the council members' minds. Add to the fact that he was killed by our defected sister, and you have an incident that no one in the clan will think to raise an eyebrow at."

Jin Shu closed his eyes as he contemplated the new information. Father had always been a shrewd one. But if what Han had revealed to him was true, Father's brilliance went into levels Jin Shu had never imagined. Father had not only vastly expanded his funds and resources; he had done it in such a way that would arouse no suspicion from those who would pass judgment. The Kamikaze Necklace had never been the primary objective, Jin Shu realized. The jewel had merely been the bait for Meilin. Father knew that their sister would have done anything for recognition. He must have also known that Meilin would have attacked Lu Tsung at some point in time, based on their history, which was why Father first made the deal with Lu Tsung. Father had Meilin and Lu Tsung exactly where he wanted them from the start. He had somehow manipulated a manipulator.

"Utterly brilliant," Jin Shu muttered.

"Yes," Han said. "He is."

"So what happens now, brother? My body is broken and damaged. There is no way I can be of use to Father now."

Han smirked and flicked his wrist. Hawk-like talons grew from his fingernails. "Which brings me to my secondary objective."

As his younger brother approached, Jin Shu could only close his eyes as both the lightning and the talons consumed him.

OOOOO

"OW!" Keroberos exclaimed. "Damn it man that hurts!"

Eriol offered the injured beast a small smile as he finished wrapping the bandages around Kero's damaged torso. "I told you it would hurt a little."

"You said it would sting!" Kero snapped. "There's a difference between stinging and hurting!"

"My apologies."

With the procedure finished the beast plopped down in front of the active fireplace. Eriol leaned against the soft couch and adjusted his glasses. It had only been two days since the battle with Lu Tsung and Meilin. The group had managed to find lodgings in a nearby town. As injured as they all were, Eriol was surprised they managed to make it out of the forest, let alone find the town. A sign of good fortunate Eriol figured. Or that someone was looking out for them. Either way Eriol wasn't going to complain.

The inn itself was a rather affluent one. The common room Eriol sat in had four soft couches circled around a large fireplace on the far wall. The mantle above the fireplace held much expensive looking china like dishes and glasses. A small table was placed in the center of the room for teacups and small plates. Currently it held all of the medical supplies Eriol could find in the inn. Bandages, herbs, various ointments, rags and a bowl of hot water dotted across the face of the table. The inn had been very well stocked. Behind Eriol were two staircases that led to the bedrooms, where the others rested.

Eriol glanced at the now sleeping Keroberos. Out of all of them, the beast had the worst injury. He had received the full power of Meilin's double kick to his back. The blow had almost severed the creature's spine. Eriol would have healed him right away, but his powers were still out of whack from when he had tried to probe into Meilin's mind. Luckily Kaho had been there to repair most of the damage. It would still take possibly a month or longer for him to heal fully. Eriol's own injury was a relatively minor one. His leg would heal in a manner of days, fewer if his powers returned to normal. Tomoyo's ribs had been hard hit as well. Meilin's kick had broken most of her ribs on her left side. Eriol shook his head as he remembered the poor girl's cries of pain. Fortunately, the worst was hopefully over for her. Syaoran's arm had been almost completely broken from the elbow down. Along with his damaged ribs, it would take a while for him to be back to one hundred percent as well. Sakura had been the lucky one. A few shallow cuts from Qin Lei's sword and some moderate bruises at most. Eriol leaned back against the couch, a smile on his face despite the situation.

"She really did a number on us." If he heard Meilin doubt herself or her ability again, he would have to remind her of this incident.

"So how are you feeling today, Eriol-kun?" a soft voice asked from behind him.

A woman wearing an emerald summer dress with a pristine white apron draped over it, entered the sitting room. Her long brown hair was tied in a high bun topped by a yellow bow, to keep her hair out of her eyes as she worked. The woman's hazel eyes glanced down at Eriol's cast, already analyzing the remaining damage. A tray filled from end to end with medical supplies sat in her arms as she approached the couch.

"I'm fine today, Ms. Eva," Eriol replied with a smile.

Eva set the tray on the coffee table. "I'm so glad to hear that. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Of course, thank you."

"Would you like some as well, Kero-chan?"

"Sure," the beast said brightly. "Could you add some cookies to that too?"

Eva giggled. "I'll see what I can do."

She disappeared behind the kitchen door on the left wall, the sounds of shuffling pots and pans reached Eriol's ears not soon after. Eva had proven herself to be a very effective nurse the minute he and the others arrived in town. The very moment she checked them into the inn, her hands had flown onto the injuries, providing all the proper care and attention their injuries warranted. The fact that she had worked on Syaoran before only seem to hasten her success as well the trust she had from Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero. Judging from the fast acting healing ointments on his leg and Syaoran's lack of complaining, it was trust well-earned. She also made a mean cup of tea, much to Eriol's pleasure several days ago. Eva made it a habit to always serve tea when treating their wounds, if for nothing else but to provide an extra comfort for her patients. Needless to say, Eriol took her tea every chance he had, as did Sakura and Tomoyo. Syaoran had never been a fan of tea, but for Ms. Eva he seemed to make an exception. He leaned back against the couch and allowed his eyes to drift to a close. It had been a perfect couple of days.

Almost too perfect.

Eriol jolted in his seat, his relaxed mood fading quickly. Where were the other guests? In their entire time staying, Eriol had not seen another inn guest. The innkeeper had not shown himself either. And to make matters stranger not once were they required to pay for their stay. Was this some kind of trap? Eriol shook his head, he didn't feel any ill-intent from Eva. She could be unknowingly be leading them into a trap however. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened.

"Eriol-kun," Eva called from the kitchen. "How much sugar would you like in your tea?"

Eriol glanced at the kitchen, his thirst for tea suddenly gone. "Three sugars would be fine," he answered nonetheless. Was the tea poisonous? Or perhaps some kind of sleeping potion? Or maybe someone put something in their medicine.

"Something on your mind Eriol-kun?" a familiar voice said from behind him.

Eriol turned around to see Kaho smiling back at him. The doctor nearly leapt from the couch. He didn't hear or feel her enter the inn at all. He would never be used to her sudden appearances.

"How long have you been there?" he asked still managing a smile.

"Long enough," she shrugged as she took a seat. "I would have announced my presence but you seemed so lost in thought."

"Oh well…it was nothing too important."

"You were worried if Ms. Eva posed some kind of threat were you not?"

Eriol could only nod. He was far too used to Kaho's uncanny perception.

"I can assure you she's of no threat to anyone," Kaho said. "And I'm the one who reserved this place and paid for your board."

Eriol raised an eyebrow. "When did you do all of this?"

"A week ago if I remember correctly," she replied with a shrug.

"A week ago we were battling those assassins at a party Mrs. Daidouji invited us to. How did you know we would be this injured and so desperate for a place to recover?"

Kaho leaned forward with her ever present smile. "A hunch."

Eriol sighed, another one of Kaho's habits he had become numb to.

"Oh, Ms. Mizuki, I didn't hear you come in," Eva said from the kitchen door, her hands holding the tray of tea and cookies. "Would like a cup of tea?"

"You know each other?" Eriol asked.

Eva sat the tray on the table. "Of course, Ms. Mizuki is the one who asked me to come here."

Eriol eyed Kaho. "Did she now?"

The priestess nibbled on a cookie. "Tea would be wonderful."

"So why are you really here?" Eriol asked when Eva disappeared behind the kitchen door.

"Gather your friends," she said sternly. "We have much to discuss."

OOOOOOO

"Are you sure you're all right?" Sakura asked Tomoyo for what had to be the eighth time in ten minutes. Sakura had been glued to Tomoyo's bedside throughout the entire week. She had given the injured girl her medicine and held her hand throughout the worst of the healing procedures. Even though Sakura knew Tomoyo was in the best of hands, she could stop the worry that assaulted her during the week.

Tomoyo smiled at her best friend while she rocked Ms. Eva's daughter Shiva to sleep. "I'm fine, really Sakura-chan."

Sakura leaned forward. "Are you sure? Because I get you another pillow if you want or some more medicine or ask Ms. Eva for more tea or-,"

"I'm fine for now Sakura-chan," Tomoyo interrupted with a laugh. "You should check on your other two patients."

"You really think I should, I mean, you're sure you're-,"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Tomoyo repeated. "Eriol-kun and Ms. Eva assured me that I'd be back to normal in a few more weeks."

"All right," Sakura said finally and headed for the door. "But if you need anything just call."

"Of course."

Meilin's door was two doors down. When she opened the door she saw Meilin sitting up in bed. Her hair cascaded down her back with her normal battle uniform folded on a nearby chair courtesy of Ms. Eva who was kind enough to wash all their battered clothes. Meilin's ruby eyes stared at the wall and made no indication that she knew Sakura had entered the room. Sakura took a careful step forward as not the startle the damaged girl more.

"Uh…Meilin-chan, are you feeling all right today?" she asked softly.

Meilin stared at the wall. "Yeah."

Sakura shifted her feet. "Ms. Eva has some great tea and cookies downstairs would you like some."

"No thanks."

Sakura sighed. She and Li were definitely related.

"Well if you want anything just say so," Sakura said. "If you want to talk anyone I'll be here."

"Why…?" Meilin whispered, stopping Sakura's exit.

Sakura turned to face Meilin once more. "Hoe?"

"Why are you still talking to me? Why are any of you even bothering with me? Why don't you hate me?" Meilin cried, tears cascading down her face. "I betrayed you, I stole your mother's necklace, and for God's sake I almost killed all of you! How you can just forgive me just like that! How can-!"

Sakura's arms wrapped around Meilin's shoulders, whose bewilderment silenced her. Sakura gripped the frozen girl until she felt her arms would go numb. She had only one answer for Meilin's musings and it was the only answer that mattered to Sakura.

"Because that's what friends do."

"F-friends?" Meilin muttered.

A soft cough interrupted them.

"Sorry to interrupt," Eriol said from the doorway. "But Ms. Mizuki is downstairs is downstairs and would like to speak to us."

Sakura nodded at the doctor and made her way to the door. She glanced over her shoulder. "Are you coming Meilin-chan?"

Meilin stared at the both of them, wiped her eyes and followed them downstairs without another word.

When they reached the lobby, Tomoyo, Li, and Kero sat on the couches facing Kaho. The priestess was already well into her tea and ate several more cookies while Sakura, Meilin and Eriol took a seat. Sakura glanced at Li who kept a firm glare towards Mizuki. Ms. Mizuki was a very slender woman. Her priestess robes hung off her like an extra layer of skin. She sat with a practiced poise similar to Tomoyo. Her red hair was tied in a low ponytail that went down to her back. Sakura's emerald eyes met Mizuki's and a warm feeling began to spread through her chest. Sakura could feel the heat spread to her face and found herself smiling. Mizuki returned her smile before turning to the others when Li began to speak.

"So what's this about?"

Kaho glanced at Sakura as she set down her tea. "First I believe a proper introduction is in order." She lowered her head in a formal greeting towards Sakura and Tomoyo. "It's nice to meet you; my name is Kaho Mizuki, a former master to Eriol-kun, Syaoran-kun and Meilin-chan."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Tomoyo answered returned the bow.

Sakura continued to stare at the priestess before her. Something was nagging at her in the back of her mind. Like an echo in the distance. It was something about Mizuki that seemed so familiar. The woman's voice…had she heard it somewhere? But that was impossible, they had only just met a week ago. Sakura mentally shook her head. With everything she had seen it would be a good idea not to rule out the impossible. The question now became where she might have heard her voice and under what circumstances. Sakura bit her lip as a fuzzy image formed. A forest, some kind of demon she was fighting. A voice…..

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo's voice broke the image, brining Sakura back to the room.

"Hoe? Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I just faded off for a second," she said shaking her head. "It's nice to meet you Mizuki-san."

Mizuki rested her hand on her chin. "But then, we have met before, right Sakura-chan?"

Sakura tilted her head. "Yes, in the forest last week when you helped Tomoyo and I against Lu Tsung."

"I am referring to a bit earlier."

Sakura flinched. The image of the forest retuned as Mizuki leaned closer, her gaze protruding into her it seemed.

"Don't you remember? I'm a friend."

With those words, the memory came flooding back to Sakura like a typhoon wind. She jolted up from her seat with a cry.

"Hooeee! I remember now!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Li asked. "How could you have met her before?"

"Well I didn't actually meet her, it was her voice and it helped me," Sakura attempted.

"What?"

"Yeah you might want to explain that one," Kero said.

Sakura turned to face her friends. "Don't you remember? When we first found out that Li loses his power during a full moon?"

"You mean when he was a bigger jerk than he is now?" Kero chuckled, earning him a solid punch to his head.

"Yes, and after than demon bit his leg in two and I went after him to get the jewels back and I was starting get overwhelmed, I heard a voice!"

Sakura sighed in frustration when her friends looked at each then at her with hardly any recollection in their eyes. But she could remember it clear as day.

_Flashback _

_In a flash Hido's tail was shooting towards her again, Sakura quickly leaped into the air, but Hido was behind her in an instant. As soon as the girl turned around, she was knocked back into the ground by a powerful fist to her back. Sakura slid through the ground, her eyes were squeezed shut, and her body tensed waiting for this to be over. When she finally stopped she was in front of a stick. Sakura slowly picked it up, not fully thinking about how powerful Hido was. When she got up, the demon was right behind her, and grabbed her by the collar._

_"Last chance girl tell me where the jewels are!" Sakura grunted, and raised her stick ready to strike, but Hido knocked away easily. "You didn't really think that that little stick was going to save you did you?" Sakura didn't answer, so Hido tossed her aside._

_'I have to think of something!' she thought. 'I'm all out of ideas though! What do I do!'_

_"Time to die girl," Hido said coldly as he positioned his tail over her. Sakura wasn't sure how, but suddenly everything seemed to freeze. The darkness and glom of the night seemed to fade to some kind of light. Sakura could suddenly hear a voice, a soft comforting voice._

_"Sakura you can do this," the voice whispered. "I can help you." The young girl could suddenly feel a hand on her head, and another hand taking hers._

_"Who are you?" she asked._

_"A friend," the voice replied. "Now take the stick before you, and put your wind powers into it."_

_"I don't understand," Sakura said._

_"You will, trust me," the voice replied, and suddenly disappeared, along with the light. Everything started to move again, and Hido's tail was heading straight for her. Sakura decided to trust the voice and took the stick in her hands. The girl turned around, and put some of her wind powers into it. She closed her eyes and expected his tail to go right through her, but it didn't, instead she heard a loud clang! When she opened her eyes she gasped. In her hands was a brightly colored staff with a slight scythe like blade on the top with two red rubies on both ends. Hido's tail bounced off the staff, saving Sakura._

_"Awesome," Sakura whispered._

_End Flashback _

"It happened like that," Sakura finished off. To her pleasure, Tomyo's eyes lit up.

"Yes, you did tell me about that later on."

Li nodded as well. "I remember that, but you never said anything about a voice."

Sakura shrugged. "I really did get it at the time." Her eyes lit up once and turned to Mizuki who smiled at her. "Then does that mean you were the voice I heard before Yukito-san turned into Yue?"

Mizuki nodded. "I'm glad you remembered that too."

_Flashback_

_"It's almost midnight," Tomoyo announced excitedly. Sakura didn't really hear her though, her gaze and attention were locked solely on the large moon, which seemed to call out to her. The bright white light, the large overall roundness, and fullness of the object was irresistible to her._

_"Sakura," she heard someone quietly call out to her._

_'Who is it?' she thought._

_"Sakura," she heard again, only getting slightly louder._

_'Whose voice is this?'_

_"Sakura."_

_'So familiar.'_

_"Sakura."_

_'But I don't know from where.'_

_"Sakura."_

_'Who are you?'_

_"Sakura."_

_"Sakura. Beware."_

_'Beware what?'_

_"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo's voice managed to break whatever trance the moon had put on her. Sakura quickly turned to her friend. "Are you all right, you suddenly spaced out. And your eyes had a blank expression on them."_

_"Oh it was nothing." _

_End Flashback _

Tomoyo turned to Mizuki. "Does that mean you're responsible for the wave that saved the festival as well?"

"Correct."

"I didn't know you had power over water like that," Eriol said.

"A friend of mine loaned me a staff to help stop the waves," Mizuki said.

"Well now that we've finished going down memory lane, why don't you tell us what you're doing here?" Li said, his foot tapping in impatience. "And exactly how long you've been following us? And why now you decide to show yourself?"

Mizuki finished off her tea before reaching into her pocket and laid six papers on the table. They were small yellow pieces of paper, in pamphlet size, making them easy to spread around a town. The yellow signified that it was still new from the printing presses. Sakura wondered what importance these papers had to them but the moment she saw what was written at the top of each flier she knew right away. In big bold print laid the word "**WANTED**" and below were rather accurate drawing of all of them. A reward was posted below their pictures. When Sakura saw she was worth 3000 gold pieces she titled her head. Was she supposed to be proud? Insulted? Scared?

"WHAT!" Kero bellowed. "What the hell? I'm only worth 50 gold pieces?"

"How much are you worth Tomoyo-chan?"

Tomoyo held up her poster. "1500. A modest bounty I suppose. But I didn't think yours would be so high Sakura-chan."

"I didn't even think we would have a bounty," Sakura replied. "Meilin-chan how about you?"

"2800," she replied meekly, her eyes glanced at Kero. "It's good to know that I'm still worth more than the bath sponge."

"What was that brat!"

Sakura smiled. It was good to see Meilin's fire hadn't been completely extinguished.

"Oh my, 2900," Eriol chuckled. "That'll make someone rather wealthy for a while."

"Li," Sakura said as she turned to him. "How about you?"

"3500," he answered with a shrug.

"Bullshit!" Kero shouted. "Why's he worth more than all of us? Whose is in charge of this, doesn't this guy know who I am?"

"The stuffed animal has a point, for once," Li said, ignoring Kero's glare. "Who is in charge of this? And why do we suddenly have bounties on our heads?"

"You have all made some powerful enemies during the course of your journey, many of whom had either next of kin or followers looking for revenge on each of you," Kaho explained.

"We've done nothing but help people this entire time," Sakura protested.

"And even if you say is true," Eriol said. "I highly doubt the people we've offended would have the necessary connections and resources to put together bounties this high. All together we're worth 10750, that's the highest bounty in a while if I recall correctly, quite high for a simple revenge plot."

"You'd be right Eriol-kun. It has been twenty years since there was bounty this high. And it was for four people," Kaho said leaning closer to them. "They were Li Xian Lang, Sonomi Amamiya, Nadeshiko Amamiya and Kensuke Daidouji."

The room was dead silent as Mizuki continued.

"You six, like those four, are now enemies of the emperor."

OOOOOO

It was close to mid-day in a meadow several miles from the nearest town. An abandoned sword dojo sat on a barren hill overlooking a small lake. The sunrays poured into the various holes in the roof and walls of the old building, agitating three of the four occupants inside. The fourth occupant laid stretched out on the floor his sword nearby, seemingly none the wiser to the heat. His second-in-command, a rather tall woman stood near him trying to console the remaining two, one of which was trying to get his attention.

"Why did we have to stay here?" their companion, a young girl exclaimed. "He just had to pick the hottest place in the area!"

"Now, now, Yuzuriha," the woman said softly. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Of course he did, Soma!" Yuzuriha said eying their 'leader.' "I mean look at Inuki, even he's hot."

"We should be lucky we have a place to stay," Soma rationalized.

"We'd be staying in a better place if the boss didn't destroy the wall of that restaurant," their other companion said. "Almost all the money from our last take went into fixing it."

"He pissed me off Kusanagi," their leader muttered. "He shouldn't have insulted my sword."

Kusanagi rolled his eyes. "Yes because insulting man's sword is just as bad as insulting his mother."

At that moment the remains of the front door flew open. Their final companion entered the old dojo, sweat pouring from his brow. The young man hunched over trying to catch his breath while tossing five pieces of paper to his companions.

"You guys….gotta…read….those…." he panted.

"What took you so long Ryuo?" Soma asked picking up the fliers. When she began reading, her eyes widened. "How recent are these bounties?"

Ryuo grinned like an excited child. "Just posted today."

"Wow! This guy is worth 3500 gold?" Yuzuriha exclaimed.

"If catch them, we'll be set for life," Kusanagi said, reading over the bounties as well. He turned to their leader. "You'll be especially interested in this one Kurogane."

At the sound of his name and the excitement of his companions, Kurogane rose and looked over the new bounties. His ruby eyes stopped at one of the names in particular.

"Li Syaoran…." He muttered.

"You know him?" Ryuo asked. "He looks strong."

A laugh passed through Kurogane's lips. "It looks like we finally found bounties worth going after."

"How should we proceed?" Soma asked. "Should we go after them all together?"

"You can try, but it always come down to one-on-one regardless," Kurogane shrugged. "Besides a group this strong requires personal attention. All of you pick your target and go after them any way you like. When catch them bring them back so we can present them all at once."

"Which do you want Kurogane?" Kusanagi asked, already aware of the answer.

Kurogane grabbed Li's poster and slashed it into pieces with his sword, his eyes almost feral with excitement.

"Let's see if you can live up to your father, Li Syaoran."

The hunt had begun.

AN: Okay…..so where have I been exactly? Long story, one of which you readers probably don't care about so I won't bore you. Short version, I've been to Canada, the beach, New York and the Caribbean. Also every time I came close to getting something done for this story I ran into computer trouble and had to start over, very frustrating. I was going to go into more detail with what Kaho was revealing to the group but I figured this chapter was long enough. And yes that is the same Kurogane we all know from Tsubasa. (Well not quite the same but you get the idea).

Also according to my hit counter this story is pretty popular in the Philippines, India and Indonesia. Seriously less than a couple of days I got triple digit hits from the Philippines with India and Indonesia not far behind. So a special thanks to those Pilipino, Indian and Indonesian readers out there. And another thanks to my other readers for being so patient with me. See you guys next chapter!


	82. A New Game

Seven Deadly Jewels

Chapter 82: A New Game

"You six, like those four are now enemies of the emperor."

The statement hung in the air, rendering the entire room silent. Ms. Eva shifted in her seat before going into the kitchen for more snacks. Li stared at the knotholes in the table going over every word Kaho had said, trying to trace the origins of this new danger. Eriol adjusted his glasses and glanced at Kaho, silently asking her for more information. Tomoyo repeated last four words unable to comprehend their meaning. Sakura shook her head wishing what she had heard was some kind of joke but the even tone in her voice made it clear this was serious

"All right!" Kero exclaimed, his voice like a loud bell against the silence. The angered beast flew towards Li, Eriol and Meilin. "Which one of you three pissed off the Emperor so much that he put a bounty on our heads?!"

Li glared at the beast. "What are you blaming us for!"

"Every single time we get into trouble or some new bastard is out to kill us, he always has some unsettled score with one of you!"

"Kero-chan!" Sakura hissed. "That's not true. They aren't always after them."

Kero folded his small arms. "Fine! It's just the important bad guys, but the point still stands. And I want an answer. What did you guys do to piss off the Emperor?"

Li's fist slammed into the beast's head. "You moron! I've never even met the Emperor of this country!"

"I haven't either…." Meilin muttered.

"Nor have I," Eriol said, his eyes still on Kaho. "Besides it would appear that whatever the Emperor's problem has with us, stems back to the parents of Li, Sakura-san and Tomoyo-san."

"But my mother only helped people," Sakura said. "How could the Emperor have any problems with her?"

"My mother has never even set foot in the Imperial Capital," Tomoyo said. "And my father…." She trailed off. "It's not important. What did they do to the Emperor?"

"Valid questions," Mizuki said as she took a careful sip of her tea. "One I shall answer with another question. How much do any of you truly know about your parents?"

Sakura and Tomoyo flinched while Li looked away.

"There's no need to regret your ignorance," Kaho said as she continued to sip her tea. "There are good reasons that their lives have been hidden from you."

"What reasons are those?" Li muttered.

"And how would you them, Kaho?" Eriol asked.

"Ms. Eva, more tea please," the priestess said with a smile. "How I know is irrelevant at the moment."

"Bullshit!" Li growled, his fists tightening. "If you aren't going to tell us anything, why the hell are you even here?"

"Li…." Sakura whispered as she placed her hand over his fists. "Shouting at her won't help."

Li glanced at her before letting out a sigh and relaxing his hand. "Sorry…." He muttered.

"I never said I would not tell you the information," Kaho said as Eva poured another cup of tea. "I merely meant that the source of my information is irrelevant to the situation at the moment."

"In other words," Eriol said. "You're only going to tell us the basic information we need to survive."

"Correct."

"So…" Li said, his hand not quite leaving Sakura's. "Start talking."

"Before we begin, tell me everything you all know about the Imperial Palace."

Sakura bit her lips. Though her father had stressed education, she had never had the chance to study anything about the current emperor or the capital. She glanced at the others to see that they were in the same bind. Eriol clasped his hands together, searching his brain for an answer. She looked at Li who merely shook his head at the question. She heard Tomoyo sigh before speaking up.

"The Imperial Palace is a citadel that was built almost 3000 years ago during the formative years of the country," Tomoyo recited. "It was built by the first emperor, Kazihiko of the Yamada clan on top of a dormant volcano. Every emperor since then has added on to it in order to mark their presence in history."

Kaho smiled. "Excellent and has it ever been successfully breached or assaulted?"

"No," Tomoyo said. "A series of traps, spells and rumored demons protect both the outer and inner walls of the citadel. All sieges and assaults have always resulted in the army being routed with heavy losses."

"Top marks," Kaho said with a chuckle.

The group glanced at Tomoyo, causing a slight blush to appear on her cheeks.

"My mother drilled this into my head when I was younger," she said. "She wouldn't stop until I could name every major important figure in the last century."

"In that case," Kaho began. "Tell me about the Yamada clan."

"The Yamada clan is the oldest and wealthiest clan in the country," Tomoyo said without missing a beat. "During the formative civil wars, Kazihiko Yamada gained much favor and power by allying himself with powerful magicians. With his military tactics and the abilities of the magicians he managed to tip the war in his favor. In the end it only took eight years to assert his dominance and declare himself Emperor."

Kaho nodded with a soft smile and motioned for Tomoyo to continue.

"Because of his association with the magicians and the impenetrable nature of the citadel, it was rumored that there was some sort of barrier around the castle created by the magicians in his alliance. This has never been proven however."

"And what happened to the magicians after the war?" Kaho pressed.

"They were killed," Tomoyo said simply.

"How?"

Tomoyo shook her head. "No one knows for sure. Some say poison, others say powerful assassins, but regardless they disappear from records."

Kaho nodded once more. "Excellent, Tomoyo. You're mother would be proud."

Tomoyo sighed and looked away. "If only."

"This history lesson is great and all," Li said. "But what does any of that have to do with the Emperor suddenly declaring us enemies?"

"And why our parents were involved with him," Sakura added.

The priestess shook her head, causing a growl from Li.

"I would have thought you would have figured it out by now Li," Kaho said with that same cheerful look on her face, which only irritated the swordsman more.

"Figure what out?"

"The magicians who allied with Emperor Kazihiko," she began. "Where do you think they came from?"

"Wanderers and rouges perhaps?" Eriol suggested.

"No," Li said. "Wandering magicians wouldn't have the power an Emperor would want. And from what we've heard, these magicians had incredible power; Power that any ordinary magician wouldn't have." At that moment, realization struck Li like a right hook. His eyes widened slightly and glanced from Sakura to Kaho.

"I see you finally connected the dots," the priestess said.

"What is it Syaoran?" Eriol asked.

"The Clow Clan…." Li muttered. "The magicians were from the Clow Clan."

"Precisely," Kaho said. "Or rather exiles from the Clow Clan."

"The Clow Clan?" Sakura repeated.

"They were a clan of powerful magicians," Kaho said. "They were led by Clow Reed, the creator of the cards that you use. There is much more to it than that, but that is a story for another day. What is important is the death of those magicians."

"What's so important about it?" Tomoyo asked.

"What it gained the Emperor."

"I'm sorry, I'm not following," Tomoyo said.

Kaho turned to Sakura, once again staring straight into her eyes, Sakura shifted in her seat. "Sakura-chan, stop me if you've heard this before. When a human with special abilities such as a magician dies, their magical energies are released…."

"And with the proper power and skill, someone can absorb that energy and add it to their own," Sakura finished without thinking. She had heard it before, from her encounter with Tatsuki, the spear wielder with the golden eyes. Sakura mindlessly passed a hand over her neck where she could still feel his iron-like grip. Looking back, she was lucky to have lasted as long as she did against him.

"Where'd you hear that from?" Kero asked.

"You remember that Tatsuki person we fought a while ago? He said that's what he planned to do to me…"

Kero sighed. "I'll never know how you can remember stuff from so far back."

"The things that have happened to us are kinda hard to forget," Sakura countered.

"So…the Emperor murdered the magicians under his command to absorb their power?" Eriol said, his chin resting on his laced together fingers.

"Correct," the priestess said. "The result was an extremely powerful Emperor who passed down his newly found power for generations. However at the time of your mother's generation, Emperor Otomo Kazihiko noticed something."

"The power was waning," Eriol finished.

"Right again."

"How does that work?" Sakura asked.

"The power wasn't his in the first place," Eriol said. "His body could adapt to it but his offspring wouldn't be compatible for various reasons. Different body types for example, different flows of energy, different energy storage, and so on. Passing down stolen abilities actually makes the power degrade away faster."

"I see," Sakura said. "So this new emperor wasn't as powerful as the first one."

"Yes. Otomo discovered this just when war was about to break out once more among the clans," Kaho said. "The barrier around the Citadel was weakened as well. No magician at the time could hope to maintain the powerful barrier. And he had spent a good portion of the treasury on building his portion of the Citadel, so he could not afford to pay his troops or hire mercenaries. The few troops he had at his disposal in the south had been routed; the rival clans were heading his way. Otomo was about to abdicate when he made another discovery."

"My mother?" Sakura guessed.

Kaho nodded. "He called her a Sleeping Beauty."

"Why did he call her that?" Sakura asked.

"She was discovered in a cave, or rather a tomb, guarded by various barriers, spells and stone guards," Kaho said.

"Sounds less like a sleeping beauty and more like a guarded treasure," Li noted.

"You'd be correct with that assumption Syaoran," Kaho said with a nod. "Nadeshiko was placed in the cave for her protection."

"Protect her from what?" Sakura asked. "Who put her there?"

The priestess shook her head. "Let's stay focused on Emperor Otomo. After he discovered Nadeshiko, Otomo quickly put her to work on the barrier and hired a group of powerful warriors to guard her from any intruders. The leader of that group was Sonomi Amamiya. With Nadeshiko's power and Sonomi's combat abilities, Otomo was able to ward off the rebellion and reestablish his rule. Nadeshiko intended to leave afterwards, her job in her mind finished, but Otomo had other plans…."

"He couldn't pass on such a powerful resource," Eriol said.

"Correct. After the war, Otomo ensured that Nadeshiko would be unable to leave."

"But how?" Sakura asked. "My mother was supposed to be some sort of powerful magician right? How could he hold her there?"

"There are a number of ways to subdue a magic user," Eriol replied, his eyes distant. "Some of them are very painful…."

"What about my mother?" Tomoyo asked. "She was very close to Sakura-chan's mother. I don't think she would have allowed this emperor to hold her captive like that."

"You would be right, Tomoyo-chan," Kaho said. "Sonomi actually had several plans in place to assassinate the emperor and ensure Nadeshiko's freedom. However, the emperor had another hostage, your grandfather. As head of the waning Amamiya clan, if anything…unfortunate happened to him, the clan would have been finished."

"So he held that over mother to make sure she'd obey," Tomoyo finished.

"How long were they kept there?" Sakura asked.

"About five years I believe. Long enough for the rebelling clans to regroup and attempt another assault on the castle. This time however, they hired two swordsmen, Kensuke Daidouji and Li Xian Lang, one an improvised mercenary, the other a swordsman from the continent fleeing a civil war in his country. The mission was simple. Infiltrate the citadel and kill the creator of the barrier. Without the barrier blocking their troops, the clans could assault the castle."

"And I'm guessing something went wrong?" Li figured.

"Just the opposite in fact," Kaho said. "Xian Lang and Kensuke entered the chamber where Nadeshiko was being kept. Kensuke engaged Sonomi and her guard while Xian Lang went in to finish off Nadeshiko. But something occurred…."

Sakura leaned in while Li raised an eyebrow at the priestess and sighed. She always had a bad habit of stretching out her stories. Li vaguely wondered if she got some kind of cheap thrill out of it.

"The details are unknown to me," she said. "But for whatever reason, instead of Nadeshiko, Xian Lang ended up killing Emperor Otomo and escaping into the night with Nadeshiko. Kensuke and Sonomi meanwhile, crippled most of the royal guard before making their escape as well."

"I see," Eriol said. "So that's why the four of them received the highest bounty."

"'Till now anyways," Li added. "I still don't see what this has to do with us being wanted all of a sudden."

"Patience Syaoran," Kaho insisted. "Now at the time of his death, Otomo only had one son, however Otomo died before he could properly pass on whatever was left of Clow magic in his body. So in essence this new emperor was powerless. He searched for a decade for a way to regain the power of Emperor Kazihiko but to no avail. In that time he married and had three children. But these children were completely normal with no magical ability of their own."

"He didn't look for my mother at all?" Sakura asked.

"He made several attempts but Nadeshiko had successfully disappeared with Xian Lang and the others. The new emperor, Hiroshi, decided to cut his losses and find a new path to power. But no magician or demon could match powers of the Clow clan. So he tasked his three children, Kaito, Rika, and Emiko to search for a new source. He declared the one who found the strongest path to power would be named the heir to the throne."

Li shook his head. "This has disaster written all over it."

"I agree," Eriol said. "It automatically places the siblings against each other."

"What made him believe his children could succeed where he failed?" Tomoyo asked.

"The luxury of time," Kaho answered. "Emperor Hiroshi was born a sickly child and that sickness persisted until adulthood. He knew that his time in this world would not be long so he asked his children to continue the search for power."

"Did they succeed?" Sakura asked.

"Here's your tea, Ms. Kaho," Eva said as she placed the tray on the small table.

The priestess took a sip as Eva tended to her daughter. "In a certain respect they did. Each of them took three different paths. The eldest, Kaito made connections, cut deals and formed a network of information that would lead him to magicians that fit his mold. The first girl, Rika devoted herself to learning the ways of magic. And the youngest, Emiko sought the demons for her path. They stayed out of each other's way for a number of years until; Emperor Hiroshi finally succumbed to his illness and died without naming a proper heir."

"I haven't heard about any of this," Sakura said. If the current emperor had died, wouldn't they know about it?

"The court wanted to keep his death quiet," Kaho said. "Declaring to the land that the emperor is dead with no heir would only lead to war and chaos. The siblings, though far along in their paths, were still nowhere near the power of the original emperor. So the court decided the first to have a child of their own, solidifying their bloodline, would be named the proper heir."

Li gritted his teeth, trying his best not to yell. "Again, what does this have to do with the wanted posters?"

She merely held up her hand. "Soon, Syaoran. Don't you wish to know who Kaito found through his information network during all this?"

The swordsman sighed. "Fine, I'll play along. Who?"

"Viga."

Li immediately straightened. He could feel the bile gather in his mouth and his stomach twist into knots. He could still remember the last time he encountered the vermin.

"What did Viga promise him?" Li asked, not attempting to hide the venom in his voice.

"Power," Kaho said simply. "And he delivered. With Viga's help, Kaito was able to find a source of power that had eluded his father and grandfather for so long. One of the jewels."

"Sheesh, haven't run into those in a while," Kero noted.

"Which one?" Li growled.

"Unknown at this point, but it did grant Kaito a great deal of power, enough to assert his claim for the throne. And the jewel would be his to keep if Kaito did one thing for Viga…"

"Get rid of us," Tomoyo said.

"So has this Kaito person been behind every attack against us?" Sakura asked.

"That can't be right," Li said. "There have been plenty of Viga's goons after us too. Why would he come after us still if Kaito already was?"

"Most likely to sabotage the deal and justify taking back the jewel," Eriol figured. "The real question is, how many of our former opponents worked for Viga and how many of them worked for Kaito?"

"Ugh…" Kero groaned. "I'm getting a headache from all this."

Kaho smiled. "It's not a straight forward situation."

"So there's a bounty on our heads because this Kaito person wants my mother's necklace?"

The priestess leaned forward. "Not quite, there's still more to this."

"The other two siblings," Li finished. "Did they form a pact with Viga too?"

"Rika did, Emiko did not."

"Where are they now?" Eriol asked.

"I believe you already met the two of them," Kaho said simply. "Sakura-chan, I believe you are the most acquainted with Rika."

Sakura stared blankly at Kaho. "Hoe?" Other than her friend back home, she didn't know anyone named Rika.

"You may know her better as the Water Mistress Remina."

Sakura's eyes widened. But before she could say anything at all, Kaho continued.

"And the third one is right in this room."

"Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan," Ms. Eva said from the back of the room. She approached the stunned group and bowed to them. "I believe it's time I gave you a proper introduction. My name is Emiko Yamada and I believe I am the cause for all this trouble."

AN: I'm not even going to bother with excuses for why this one took almost a full year. The biggest hang up was the fact that this chapter was basically one huge info-dump composed of dialogue. No motion, or fights or anything, just one big "Kaho explains it all" kind of chapter. I tried to keep it as interesting as I could. And I really had to struggle with myself to not reveal too much of the back-story of Nadeshiko and Xian Lang. Adding on to that I had to go through and read through all 81 chapters to make sure everything was not only consistent but made sense with the story presented and to ensure things matched up with what was already established. Then every time I made headway, something would occur like my computer crashing, or my mom accidentally deleting the story or just school stuff. (That won't be problem anymore now that I've graduated XD). *Sigh* bottom line I did the best I could with a story whose scope just keeps getting bigger with each chapter. And I just hope this chapter was worth the wait. Hopefully the next one won't take so long because ideally the next one will have more going on than everyone just sitting around having the situation explained to them. As always tell me what you thought, you're reviews are what keep this story going. Thanks again for all your patience and appreciation.


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